180 Degrees
by Izaalka
Summary: The time for peace has come. But not for Harry Potter. Voldemort suggests peace but on one condition... Beware of Tom Riddle, the sexiest guy in the universe! Humor, romance, action, some cursing and adult stuff.
1. The Proposal

**Disclaimer:** I do not own 'Harry Potter'. If I did, trust me, everything would be WAY different, especially the parings… Ekhem, 'Harry Potter' belongs to J.K.Rowling, not me.

**Parings:** mainly HPxTR but there are some surprises… Yay randomness!

**Time:** Takes place after 5th part. Harry and the gang are in their 6th year. Dumbledore is still alive, Black as well (just pretend he didn't die, okay?).

**Warnings:** Shounen-ai, maybe yaoi later (there will be additional warnings), cursing… you know, some adult swings, that's why it's T.

**A.N.:** Well, this idea came into my mind tonight about 3 am (yeah, insomnia… sometimes quite useful), I might develop and continue it if someone asks me to. Hopefully it won't be that bad. Anyways, enjoy, you yaoi-fangirls x)

* * *

**1. The proposal**

* * *

It was a pleasant morning. At least it had been so far. The sun had just risen, the weather was nice and no freaking birds were singing, which all allowed a certain Gryffindor to sleep peacefully. That is, until an old wizard hadn't entered his room in the most loud possible way. Harry woke up and almost had a heart-attack.

The old wizard just smiled and his eyes twinkled.

_Awesome… Dumbledore the first thing in the morning I see… _

"Harry, dear boy!" exclaimed the mage. "The war is over!"

Well, this was surely unexpected. Harry slapped himself on the cheek and found it true, that indeed it wasn't a dream.

"E-excuse me, sir?"

"The war is over!" repeated the headmaster and spun around, his hat falling onto the floor. He seemed not to notice. "Voldemort has sent us a letter in which he suggests peace between the dark and the light side!" Dumbledore looked delighted. For a second Harry felt like that too. But soon he realized that everything has got a 'but'…

"But…?" he inquired.

Dumbledore looked down and scratched the back of his neck.

"Um, well… There is this small little thing…"

* * *

"Say what?!" Harry exclaimed.

"Dear boy, please think it over; it cannot be that bad, now, can it? Just imagine the peace and harmony…"

"Yeah, peace and harmony while _I_ marry_ Voldemort_?!"

Silence fell in the room. McGonagall shrugged hearing that name and looked at Dumbledore, Dumbledore smiled apologetically, Snape covered his eyes with one hand and shook his head from left to right, Ron and Hermione looked stunned and dangerously pale. Harry was pale too, but pale with anger.

"But think about it…! No wars, no killing, no murders…"

"Yeah, and me waking up next to Voldemort, me eating breakfast with Voldemort, me freaking _kissing _Voldemort goodnight?!"

"Potter" Severus cut Harry's shouting. "No one said anything about you doing these things with Voldemort…" Minerva shrugged again. "It's a political marriage. All you have to do it sign papers and attend the wedding."

Harry was silent for a moment.

"And then?" he asked.

"And then you're going to live happily ever after!" exclaimed the headmaster. Everyone gave him their death glares. Well, except Hermione and Ron, they were still too shocked to do anything.

"No fucking way! Not in this life or any other!" shouted Harry and balled his fists.

"If I were you, I'd think it over once more, Mr. Potter" sounded an unfamiliar voice. Everyone looked at the chimney in front of which stood a young handsome man in his mid-twenties, all in elegant black suit, pale as bone, delicately wavy hair falling onto his face in total harmony. Like from a picture. Behind him stood Lucious Malfoy.

"And who on Earth may you be, young lad?" asked Dumbledore standing from his chair.

"_Good_ to see you too, Dumbledore" said the man. "It such a shame you don't remember your former student." The man smiled lightly, irony clear in his voice.

Everyone looked at him expectantly.

He sighed.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle at your service" he said and bowed theatrically.

Lucious rolled eyes, Ron and Hermione sat like they had before, Severus cracked one eyebrow, Dumbledore dropped a lemon candy from his mouth, Minerva covered her mouth in surprise, Tom smiled in superiority. Harry's insides turned upside down. He had to admit, Riddle was _damn_ attractive. But still! He was lord Voldemort! Potter shocked his head.

"What happened to you?" asked Dumbledore before Harry had the chance to ask the same question.

"I assumed that it wouldn't be appropriate if I were in that old, ugly form of mine under such circumstances." He raised an eyebrow and looked directly at Harry, who was glaring at him. "I suggest you agree to the terms, they aren't that excessive. And we all want peace, now, don't we?"

Harry sighed. Sure, he wanted peace. But there was a great price he had to pay and he wasn't sure if he was ready to do it.

"But… why me?" asked the boy, resigned.

Riddle seemed to be looking for the best fitting words and then said:

"Well, who do you suggest then? I dare to say that you're the most fitting person. Political marriages have this to them that the most important people from both sides marry each other. And hell, I'd rather marry that crazed Bellatrix than Dumbledore, no offence, headmaster."

"No harm done" said Albus hesitantly.

Harry had to agree. It would be just_wrong_ if Voldemort married Dumbledore. Or McGonagall. _Or Snape,_ for crying out loud.

"I… I see your point here" said the raven haired boy.

Then the silence fell again.

Riddle cleared his throat.

"I'll come for the answer tomorrow evening" he said and then nodded to Malfoy. "Till then." Riddle disappeared in the chimney again. Malfoy followed him and in a second they both were gone.

Harry fell onto his chair. Everyone looked at him expectantly.

"For Merlin's sake…" he sighed and stood up again. Everyone was still looking at him, Hermione and Ron still shocked. "Bloody hell, I need some time for myself. _Alone._" He said and left the room. He required some time and he didn't have much of it.

* * *

To say that Harry Potter was frustrated wasn't enough. To say Harry Potter was bloody frustrated wasn't enough as well. No words couldn't describe how _fucking infuriated _was Harry Potter. Indeed, he knew that the situation wasn't that bad. If he wasn't the one to marry Voldemort he would probably think it was a true miracle.

But he was in fact the person to marry lord Voldemort, no one else.

He was lying on his bed, trying to figure out what to do. He had to agree, there was no way he couldn't. The papers weren't what he was afraid of. Even he wasn't afraid of the wedding that much. Unless Vol… Riddle decides to kiss him. No matter how attractive he was, Harry wouldn't allow the freaking kiss! Then Harry's thoughts wandered somewhere, where he had never thought they could. His imagination put into his head the image of Tom kissing him passionately and holding tightly and…

"No fucking way!" he exclaimed and shook his head. Something bad was happening to him and he surely wanted it to stop before it would be too late.

Well, he decided, there really was no other way. Even though he would rather die in battle bringing the peace to world than marry Riddle in order to save the world. This freaking world, which he was supposed to save, really had to hate him to make it into such outcome.

Before falling asleep one thought came into his mind…

…Harry Riddle.

_God…!_

* * *

Harry woke up the next day, even though he would have rather stayed in bed all eternity. This evening he was to meet Tom again, his future husband. The fact that Tom was a man wasn't such a big problem. In magical world it wasn't rare that two men or two women fell in love. He didn't know much about it, still, he knew such couples existed and weren't discriminated like the couples in muggle world. Really, these muggles were the worst. Racists, homophobes, nationalists… He sighed. And then he smiled. He imagined the face of uncle Vernon when he sees Harry's partner during the wedding. And then his smile faded.

_Oh my God… Oh my freakin' God! I'm gonna marry Voldemort… I'm gonna marry THE lord Voldemort! I'm gonna MARRY lord Voldemort. I AM gonna marry lord Voldemort! I'm going to marry lord Voldemort! _

He slammed his head into his pillow.

_Aaargh! _

Once more.

And once more.

And yet once more…

* * *

"Harry, mate, you alright?" asked the red-head.

Harry looked up from his bed. He had stopped hitting his head into his pillow a while ago, deciding that showing up in front of Riddle with a bruise huge as China on his forehead wouldn't be a good thing.

"As alright as I can be right now" Harry sighed.

"Mate, you don't really have to do it… I'm sure they can think of somethin' else… or… I dunno… maybe You-Know-Who will marry Snape? Oh God, this would be the most disgustin' pair ever! But I have to tell you this; the guy looks quite nice now…"

"Ron" Harry cut his monologue. "I know you're trying to help me, but it's not helping. And I have to marry 'the guy'. I have no other choice. I used to think that I'd die in a battle, you know, like these heroes in books and stuff, fighting to save the world etc… But for it to end like this…! This I'd never guess. This… this…"

"Mate…"

"Don't 'mate' me now! I'm gonna have to _mate_ with Voldemort, for Merlin's sake!"

Harry slammed his head into his pillow again.

Ron blushed.

"Eeerm, I'm sure you won't _have_ to… And b'sides, sex isn't that bad, mat… Harry."

Harry held his head in the pillow for a second and then the meaning of Ron's sentence came to his mind.

"SAY WHAT?!"

"Well, they basically can't make you go to bed with him…"

"No, I mean the other part."

"…"

"Ron, is there something you're not telling me?"

"…"

"Ron…? Did you… and Hermione…?"

"No freaking way!"

"Then who?"

"…"

"Bloody hell, tell me!"

"H… She… She is from Slytherin."

"No way."

"Yes way."

"And you haven't told me anything!"

"I just have…"

"No, I made you tell me, this isn't the same."

"Okay, whatever, can we stop this now?!"

"Ooooh, Ronnie's got a girlfriend…"

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

At breakfast Harry didn't eat anything. Neither at dinner. He didn't have to go to classes that day, so he spent the time by the lake. It was November already, but it still was quite warm as for English weather. There was no snow, even no rain. It was a little bit chilly, but he had his scarf. He sat there, his back resting on a trunk of a willow tree. It didn't help him much. Now he was hungry, anxious _and_ cold. He sighed. It was the time for supper. He stood up and went into the castle.

He didn't eat anything at supper. He was sure he was going to regret it later, but hell, he was too anxious to care. At least he was, until a great silence fell in the Great Hall.

He looked around. All students were looking at Dumbledore and… Riddle! He couldn't believe his eyes. He knew Tom was to come to the castle, but to join the supper?!

Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"My dear students…! I have great news for you! Namely, the war has ended! Yes, that's right, it's all over! We're safe now!" Students looked at each other and then cheered loudly. Harry started praying that the wicked wizard wouldn't…

"And it all thanks to Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Tom Riddle!"

Silence fell again, all eyes on Harry (because no one knew who on Earth that Tom Riddle was). Harry wished he could disappear under the ground.

Dumbledore cleared his throat again.

"My dears, this is Mr. Tom Marvolo Riddle…" he said waving his hand at Tom and students cheered "… known to most of us as lord Voldemort."

No one could describe the sudden silence.

Riddle smiled.

Yes, he loved Hogwarts.

Dumbledore cleared his throat yet again.

To Harry's surprise Tom whispered something to Dumbledore. The old mage seemed a little bit hesitant.

"Are you sure you don't want me to tell them…?"

"Yes, I am. Now, please, let us continue the supper."

"Ah, yes…" said Dumbledore and cleared his throat one more time much to Tom's frustration and started speaking louder. "Dears! Don't look so surprised! When the time comes…" he glanced at Riddle, who looked completely uninterested in what the old wizard said until it wasn't something he didn't want him to say. "…we'll tell you the details. But as for now, dig in! Let's celebrate the end of war!!!"

Students uncertainly started eating, not many of them talking.

Harry was sitting on his chair, blushing furiously. Tom has been looking at him the entire time. And it wasn't a normal look. It was a _look_. He couldn't tell the difference, yet he could _feel_it. Thankfully Hermione saw that and moved her seat on the other side of table so that Tom couldn't see Harry anymore.

Tom added her to the list of _Accidentally spilled drink on…_ He had to have some fun during the wedding. That is, unless Harry decides to give in to his wonderful charms and get shagged like never in his life. He sighed. Yeah, even he wasn't such an optimist. After all, Harry could stand the Imperio curse.

* * *

After the supper Harry was summoned to the headmaster's room, this time without Ron and Hermione. In the room Dumbledore, Riddle, Malfoy and McGonagall were waiting. Somehow he was relieved that his Potions' master wouldn't be the witness of this mess. He came into the room without hesitation. _Don't show them your fear or they'll eat you!_

He stood in the centre of the room. Dumbledore and Riddle in front of him, McGonagall on his right, Malfoy on his left. Riddle was giving him the _look_ again, but he shrugged it off. He had to add this to the list of '_Voldie can't' _when they came to deciding the points of agreement.

"So… what have you decided?" asked Dumbledore, breaking the silence.

Everyone looked expectantly on Harry. He could feel the pressure. He took a deep breath in and said.

"I agree."

The utter silence wasn't somehow what he had expected. Truth to be told, he wasn't sure at all what to expect, maybe Dumbledore dancing on his table, McGonagall jumping on Dumbledore and hugging him until his eyes flew out of his eyeholes, Riddle smirking… But no such a silence!

Then Albus and Minerva let out the breaths they had been holding. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled again. This wasn't a good sign, thought Harry.

"Great! Then we can plan the wedding…!"

Ignoring his chit-chat Riddle stepped out and stood two feet from Harry.

Harry cracked one eyebrow, suddenly completely lost.

And then Riddle kneeled on one knee and took a small box out from his pocket. He opened and held it in front of Harry.

"I assume you could call it cliché, but…" Tom cleared his throat. "Harry James Potter, will you marry me?"

Harry looked wide eyed at the man kneeling in front of him.

_What the hell…?! _

He nodded his head slowly.

And then he fainted.

* * *

Harry woke up feeling strangely comfortable. He even purred quietly when a hand ran through his hair. And then he remembered.

He opened his eyes and sat up suddenly. He met Tom's amused look. He had been obviously lying his head on Riddle's lap, while the rest of his body had been stretched on the couch in Dumbledore's office.

"Don't look at me like that, it was his idea" said Tom and pointed a knuckle in Dumbledore's direction.

"But you didn't protest" retorted the headmaster.

"Oh, well, why would I…"

Harry grabbed his head with both hands and shook it. The hell, what happened to his normal life? Well, as normal as it was.

Then he realized he had a ring on his finger. It was a silver snake (with open mouth and two great fangs) wrapped over his finger. He had to admit, it was beautiful. It had green emeralds in the place of its eyes.

"Like it?" asked Tom, holding his hand in the air, so that Harry could see the same ring on his finger, only slightly bigger. And more twisted, Harry added in his mind. The boy could swear the snake on Tom's ring was smirking.

"Yeah…" he said uncertainly. "Now, could we move on to the points of agreement?"

"Oh, we have decided that already." Dumbledore said.

Harry looked at Tom.

Tom looked away.

Harry had a bad feeling.

"Show them to me. Now."

* * *

_Agreements for the Peace and Harmony between the Light and Dark Side. _

_1. __Marriage between Mr. Harry J. Potter and Mr. Tom M. Riddle. _

_a) __The marriage will take place on the 31st December 1996. _

_b) __Harry Potter and Tom M. Riddle are to live together after the wedding. The place of their living is to be decided by both of them. _

_c) __Harry Potter shall continue his education. The place and methods are to be decided. _

_2. __The killing, torturing and fights between two sides shall stop. Everyone who breaks this rule shall be put into Azkaban. _

_3. __All Death Eaters that are not in Azkaban shall not be put there unless they break the point nr. 2. _

_4. __Magical children from muggle and half-muggle families are allowed to educate in Hogwarts under these conditions: _

_a) __The students and their parents (and their siblings, if they have any) are to promise under special curses that they won't tell any muggle about the magical world and wizards. _

_b) __If any somehow breaks the point 2.a. he/she shall be expelled and his memory shall be erased. In critical situations the person may be put into Azkaban, depending on the result of the breaking of point 2.a. _

* * *

Harry stopped reading. There were many other rules, but it seemed these were the most important. As for point 2 it was the thing they all had been fighting for. Freedom. As for point 3… well, he didn't agree with it, but still, Riddle had to get something out of it. Well, if they really were bad people, they would try to do something bad again and then they would land in Azkaban. That he could agree with. The point 4 wasn't a problem. Clearly it's something that should have been done before, but no one (clearly except Tom) had thought about it. The main problem was point number 1…

He had agreed to the marriage, there was no way out of it. The date wasn't that bad either. It would be cold, but there were special charms for that. The education didn't scare him either. He liked school and became quite good at most of the subjects, even at Potions. But here the steps have begun. He was to live with Tom Marvolo Riddle, in the same house, maybe even in the same room, _in the same bed!_ _God…!_

He looked up from the papers. Tom had been obviously staring at him, but when he saw Harry looking up, he looked away. He sighed.

"Fine."

"Great!" Exclaimed Dumbledore. "Now we can start planning the wedding!"

Both Harry and Tom growled. This was gonna be _hell_.

After two hours of Dumbledore's talk about flowers _and _chairs _and_ guests_ and_ the place _and_ the food _and_ everything possible, Harry and Tom were too tired to even oppose. They had even agreed to white dressed house elves, but they insisted on decorations in red, green, white and a little bit of black. It seemed the wedding would be a total disaster.

"…and the music! It must be somewhat classical, yet modern. I'll send an owl to some _bands_ and…"

"Dumbledore, no offence, but _shut the hell up_" said Tom and growled. Harry was kind of thankful, as thankful he could be to lord Voldemort in his sexy form, as he had really wanted to say the same thing.

"…ask… Oh?"

"Really, I think we all need some rest. This whole chit-chat made us exhausted and fed up with this wedding-sh… stuff."

"Um, yes, I agree… Tom, would you like to stay in Hogwarts for a night?"

Tom glanced at Harry.

"Yes, I'd _love_ to."

"Great! I'll call the house elves and have the room for you and Harry arranged in few minutes…"

Harry felt his inside turn upside-down. He was to sleep with Tom _this very night_?! He was about to protest when he heard Riddle's voice.

"Honestly, I don't think this is a very good idea. I'm positive Harry prefers to stay in his own dorm. And besides it's inappropriate to sleep in one room…" the young boy could swear his life wouldn't be so bad after all… "…before marriage." …or not.

Well at least for now he was safe.

* * *

**AN.** Hope you liked it I've changed the date to 1996 because I'd checked the birthdates and stuff... And guess what! 31st December is Voldie's b-day! xD 


	2. Christmas

_Firstly I'd like to thank all of you people who have written reviews. Thanks a lot! I'm really thankful for the rewievs and in such a short time after posting! You're awesome!  
_

_This is the second part, hopefully good enough. It's 1 am when i'm posting it now (yeah, insomnia again... is here and has been here for a good time now x3). Well, enjoy. _

* * *

**2. Christmas.**

* * *

"…before marriage."

These two words kept spinning in Harry's head when Riddle was accompanying him to Gryffindor house's entrance. They didn't talk at all, both of them drowning in their own thoughts.

Harry didn't think of Riddle as bad as he used to. The man really wasn't at all similar to the Voldemort he knew. He wasn't psycho, he had a _nose_ and didn't smell of vaseline… don't ask. The problem was, that even though he seemed normal now, even _sociable_, he still was the lord Voldemort, the one that killed so many people, the one that had been terrorizing his world for many, many years. Harry wondered how old Riddle was. Maybe it was better not to know.

On the other hand Riddle's thoughts were peaceful. He was quite pleased. His proposal was accepted. Even though he had to forget about the total domination, he could at least live now more peacefully. And from all of the people from the Light side, Harry Potter agreed to his offer. He was glad. Otherwise he would have to marry… well, better not think about it now. It seemed to him like finally in his life there was a small light of hope. He snorted. Ironical as it may be, this was the first time he was truly happy – surrendering what he had been fighting for for Merlin knows how long. Some of his ideals have been granted, like the muggle-born children in Hogwarts. It's not that he hated these kids, they weren't the problem. The main problem was their parents. He would gladly take these kids away from muggle parents and place them in Hogwarts, but Dumbledore wouldn't agree to that. Hell, Harry wouldn't, even though Tom was positive Harry would love to leave his uncle's house. At least now Harry wouldn't have to live with the muggles ever again. He had Tom after all, now, didn't he?

In no time they got to the Gryffindor entrance (A.N. lol, I know how it sounds… but for GryffindorxSlytherin go look somewhere else!). Harry stopped, unsure what to do. Yet again Tom was giving him the _look_.

"Well, um… I should be going now; it is way past curfew…"

They were silent for a moment. Then Tom put his hand on Harry's cheek, making him look up.

"Mhm, goodnight then" he said, lowering his head and, before Harry could do anything, Tom kissed him slightly on the forehead. The young boy blushed like never. "See you tomorrow. Sleep well" Riddle _winked_.

_Oh God_, thought Harry, _what have I gotten myself into…? _

_

* * *

_

When Harry entered the main room of Gryffindor, he heard some squealing and giggles. Then he saw small groups of girls looking at him, giggling and squealing.

He blushed even more.

They squealed and giggled even more.

Thankfully Hermione and Ron came to his rescue…

"So, how was your prince charming, Harry?"

…or not.

They dragged him into Ron's and Harry's bedroom. They sat on Harry's bed, Ron on his left, Hermione on his right, both squeezing Harry and trying to squeeze the big news out of him.

"So how was it like?"

"When's the wedding?"

"Will you be wearin' a white dress?"

"Have you chosen your bridesmaid yet?"

"Or first man?"

"Where will you be living?"

"Can I see the ring…?"

"Oh! My! God! It's marvellous!"

"Wow, mate, it's really awesome… But it reminds me of Slytherin…"

"Shut up, Ron! Your little _girlfriend_'s from Slytherin!"

"This has got nothin' to do with it!"

"Anyways, Harry, what about the muggles?"

"Is the war really over?"

"How many people will there be on the wedding?"

"Will there be any Death Eaters on the wedding?"

"Has he kissed you?"

The other questions haven't come. Hearing the last question Harry blushed.

"Oh my fuckin' God! Harry, he has?!"

"Ron, shut up! Let him speak…"

"HAS HE?!"

"YES!" shouted Harry and blushed even more if it was possible.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other.

And then they squealed.

And then they hugged Harry.

And then they giggled.

_God…_

"Now, mate, how was it like?"

"What…?"

"Ya know, did he use his tongue…"

"Ron!"

"What…?"

"…he hasn't…"

"Oh? So it was a classical normal kiss? Well, not that bad for a first date…"

_Date…?_

"…it wasn't… on t-the lips… it was on… t-the forehead" Harry stuttered and his face reddened yet once more. He could swear he could win the contest for the finest tomato now.

"Whaaaaat?!" asked Hermione and Ron in union.

"I was about to go into the main room when he said goodnight and k-kissed me on the forehead" explained Harry.

"Aw… How boring…"

"Ron Weasley!"

"What?"

"Geez… Okay, Harry, now answer the other questions."

"Eeeh…?"

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

The next day Harry woke up, something heavy was lying on him. It was warm and kind of soft and plushy, so he didn't mind. Then he remembered about Tom Riddle. He suddenly sat up and sighed relieved. Thankfully it wasn't Tom lying on him. He looked at the corpse. It was still breathing. And it seemed awfully familiar.

"Hermione…?"

What on Earth was that girl doing in_his _bed?! He looked at himself. He still had clothes on himself. He sighed and tried to get up. But something heavy other than Hermione held his legs…

"Ron…!"

_Awesome… Just freaking awesome…_

Harry quietly changed into some new clothes and sneaked out of the room and then out of the Gryffindor tower. It was still very early; however he could see the first people coming down to the Great Hall. He followed a small group of first years. When he finally got to the Great Hall he was thankful he had woken up earlier. Dumbledore wasn't there. The wicked yaoi-fan-girls weren't there. He could finally eat something in peace. His stomach growled. Hell yeah, he was starving.

He sat at the Gryffindor table. Some food appeared in front of him. He chose some toasts with cheese and ham and some tea with milk. Yes, Hogwarts' food always tasted great.

"May I join you?" sounded a silent voice near his hear.

Harry jumped in his seat and turned around to see Tom standing there in a plain, black robe. Hadn't he knew, he'd have thought Tom was one of the students. He hesitantly nodded his head and Riddle sat next to him.

"I was always wondering how it felt to sit on this side of the Great Hall" said Tom.

Harry looked at him. He knew Tom was Slytherin, but it still was all too weird for him. He murmured something resembling 'yeah' and continued chewing on his toasts.

"Slept well?" asked Tom.

"Not really…" Harry replied before he thought about it.

"Oh? Hopefully I haven't occupied your mind too much this night…"

"No! I mean… no."

"Then what was it? Insomnia?"

"Hermione and Ron were interrogating me the whole night."

"May I know what they asked about?"

"Um… the normal stuff… The points of agreement, the wedding," Harry had to look away "and…" the boy blushed slightly thinking about the kiss and _things_ which Ron tried to explain him about two men… God, how the bloody hell did Ron know about _things_ between _men_?

"And…?"

"Erm, and… and… the ring! Yeah, the ring, they really liked it."

"The ring you say?" Tom smirked as he knew what Harry had really thought about. "Hm, they like it, that's _nice_. It will have to do until the wedding. The gold ring will be the real thing."

Harry looked at him surprised and embarrassed.

"You don't really have to… This one is enough already…"

"No." Tom cut his sentence. "It has to be special."

Harry started surprised and uncertain.

"Oh…" was the only thing he could think of saying.

"Harry, your tea is getting cold."

"Tea… Oh, tea! Yes, I'll get a new one…"

Tom smirked and Harry blushed.

* * *

Riddle decided that he would stay in Hogwarts until the wedding and situations like that kept happening for the whole month. Tom was smirking, Harry blushing, girls squealing and giggling, Ron was disappearing during some nights, Hermione was sending a lot of owls, Dumbledore and McGonagall seemed to have more things to talk about than they really had to and have made many after-hours meetings… The whole month looked pretty much like that. Before Harry realized it, it was already Christmas. Most of people went back to their homes. Not many students were left: Harry, Ron, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson and some girls from Ravenclaw. Beside them there was Tom, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Trelawney, Sprout and Binns. Hagrid went to France to _do some things_. Yeah, right, everyone knew what he really went there for.

Harry was in real dilemma. It was the last weekend before Christmas and he had to buy some presents. He had already bought a present for Hermione (some thick book) and owled it. He still had to buy something for Ron and… there was his problem. He had no idea if he was supposed to buy Tom something. He would feel bad if Tom gave him something and he hadn't anything to give back. Yet it would be strange if he gave Tom something when the other didn't expect such a sudden affection. For Merlin's sake, Harry had no idea what to do. After spending a half day wondering whether he should buy Tom something or not he came to a conclusion: he would buy a present, but wouldn't give it until Tom gave him something first. That would be the best way out of it. So he packed some gold in his pocket and went out of school to Hogsmeade.

People were running around, busy, noisy and mostly extremely happy. Harry had no idea what it was that people liked so much in shopping, but he shrugged it off. He had two presents to buy and he had to buy them that day. He was walking around for some time when he saw _the shop_. He smiled. Oh, this was great.

* * *

The weekend passed quickly and it was Monday morning already. Harry woke up and saw the pile of presents next to his bed. There were presents from Ron ("_Small marital crimes_"), Hermione (photo album with photos of The Golden Trio and a note "Remember us when you're married!"), Mrs. Weasley (a sweatshirt…) and some small presents like sweet and such from his other friends. He was positive there was nothing from Tom and he had to admit he was kind of disappointed.

He spent the day in library looking for something about male couples, but after reading few pages of "_I'm gay and proud"_ he gave up. Yes, the author surely was proud, but he didn't have to say some _things_ and after some _details_ Harry had to stop.

* * *

They were all sitting at the table. The supper hadn't started yet; most of people were chatting and smiling. Dumbledore was talking with McGonagall as usual, Draco was trying to ignore Pansy's chit-chat, Ravenclaw girls were whispering to each other and giggling, Ron tried to talk to Harry and Tom was sitting silently next to Harry. They were sitting at a round table, so Tom was between McGonagall, who was flirting with Dumbledore, and Harry, with whom he would love to flirt, but he wasn't insane enough to do that. He wanted to marry that boy, not scare him to the death.

When the food arrived Ron was the first one to start eating. After him other people began and just then Tom discreetly tugged on Harry's sleeve. The boy looked at the man and saw that Tom was holding a small package under the table. He handed it to Harry and waited.

Surprised Harry opened the box to find a necklace. It was a gold lion and a silver snake interwoven together. It could be a fight, it could be some kind of a protective hug… Still…

"Wow, thank you" Harry said silently, embarrassed that he was given such an expensive present.

"I hope you like it. Somehow it reminds me of our situation."

"It's beautiful, I love it" Harry smiled. He could swear he saw a tint of pink on Tom's cheeks, but it might have just been his imagination. "I've got something for you too" said Harry and thanked Merlin that he had taken the present with himself. As they say, faith dies the last.

Tom was really surprised. He hadn't expected Harry to buy him something. It was a chance like surviving an Avada curse… Well, Harry proved he could manage both. Tom reached his hand and Harry gave him a rectangular package. It was slightly heavy. _A book…?_ He pulled the paper off and saw indeed something resembling a book, yet it was not a book.

"It's a journal. I thought you could use one, since I've destroyed your last one."

Tom nodded his head slowly and looked once more at the journal. It was marvellous. Mystique, mysterious and mostly beautiful. There was a golden bow and an arrow on the front page, gold inscriptions in the background and… well, it was really beautiful (AN. Look for 'Desire Journal with Lock and Key' on Barnes and Nobles website. It's the best journal ever!).

"My… I don't know what to say"

"A 'thank you' is enough" Harry said and smiled. Tom smiled back.

Who would have thought Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort would be exchanging Christmas presents of their own will…

When Harry came back to his room he was exhausted. The supper turned out to be quite fun. He had talked a little with Tom, a lot with Ron and way too much with Dumbledore. The day was really nice and he hoped he would get a nice sleep that night.

* * *

Harry woke up the next day happy and rested. He had dreamt of much idiotic stuff like castles, princesses, princes, knights, heroes, bunnies and pillows, however that were good dreams. Then it occurred to him that Ron was absent. He lazily got up from his bed and that very moment Ron entered the room.

"Oh? Where have you been?" asked Harry. Ron yelped and jumped in his place.

"Harry! Dear God, what are you doing awake so early in the morning?"

"It's already 10 AM."

"But you usually sleep till 11 AM."

"Ron. The question is… where have you been?"

"Ah… you see…"

"Ronald Weasley. Is that a love mark…?"

"Eeek!" Ron squealed, grabbed his neck and blushed.

"I was kidding, Ron" said Harry laughing.

"Very funny, mate" said Ron and lied on his bed.

"Ron… I'm serious. Where have you been?"

"Um… with my girlfriend. Trying out the present you bought me" Ron smiled thinking about the present. Harry had bought him a pair of handcuffs with a little bit of soft black fur on the ends. On the box there was a sign saying "love-love handcuffs". Well, you get the image.

"Oh, God…"

Harry wanted to oppose, to exclaim that the only Slytherin girl that was in the castle was Pansy Parkinson and Ron couldn't possibly be dating that _rat_, but Ron was already snoring loudly. It'd better be a misunderstanding…

* * *


	3. The wedding

_Hey, it's me again. Thanks for so many reviews! I'm really touched x3 Today's New Year's Eve, so I'm supposed to be readying myself for going out now… Hell, tights and high heels are HELL. –sighs- But at least I get to wear a red and black lolita dress x) Hm there should be a photo of it on my spaces... The link's in my profile… Ah! Enough of this chit-chat! Let's get going with the story! We need to get Harry and Voldie married before year 2008! And btw… Happy New Year, Dears!_

_Sorry for such a late update (well, if one day could be a late update x3), but my dog kept distracting me. Bloody hell, never get yourselves a Yorkshire terrier. NEVER. They might be cute and stuff, but they're evil, _evil – _I'm telling you!_

* * *

**3. The wedding.**

* * *

Harry tried _many_ times to make Ron talk about his girlfriend, but there was no way in hell the red-head would even say a world on that topic (well, maybe except 'No fuckin' way!'). The raven haired had a lot of time for himself that week, which he spent trying not to panic. He could literally feel the sand pouring in the hourglasses or hear the echoing sound of clocks ticking. It didn't help him that during every meal he saw Tom and that bastard was always giving him the _look_. He had to ask someone what that _look_ meant or he'd go crazy.

However, you cannot stop the time and when you want something never to come it will come in just few seconds. At least it's what Harry felt. It was like he closed his eyes for a second and it was already 30th December! To say he felt monstrous fear wasn't enough. He would sit, Ron would talk to him, he wouldn't even understand the meaning of Ron's words, Ravenclaw girls would giggle and the time would be ticking away. That's how the day before his wedding looked like. In enormous fear. That is, until someone put a hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, would you mind going for a walk?" asked a voice.

Raven haired turned around and saw Tom Riddle standing behind him. Ron momentarily stopped talking and Ravenclaw girls instantly started squealing. That seemed to be one of the rules of the universe – there would always be some yaoi-fangirls that would squeal and giggle. There was no exception.

Harry uncertainly nodded his head and stood up. Tom put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him gently into the door's direction. Before going out of the room Tom looked back, Ravenclaw girls squealed, he smirked. Then Tom put out his tongue slightly and left the room. Ron could swear his hearing sense was in great danger because of the horribly loud and high squeals. He quickly left the Great Hall and went to look for his _girlfriend_… Now that he wasn't occupied he could have some fun, couldn't he?

* * *

The walk was one of the weirdest things in Harry's life. Not that his life wasn't normally weird, but this was _extremely_ weird. Firstly he exchange presents with Voldemort, now he's on a damn _walk_ with Voldemort and tomorrow he's going to _marry_ Voldemort! If this wasn't weird, what was?

They kept walking in silence until they came to the lake. It was all covered in ice and there was much snow on the ground around. Tom smirked. Harry had a bad feeling.

"Do you ice-skate, Harry?" asked Riddle.

Harry looked at him. _Hell no…_

"A little…"

Tom smirked even more. Harry had an even worse feeling. And then the older man went onto the ice. He stepped with his one foot harder trying the ice. When it didn't break he made some more steps and turned around.

"Come on, the ice's good."

"Um… I don't think it's a good idea…"

"Nonsense, come over here."

"Vol… I mean… erm…"

"You can call me Tom, please" said the man and smirked. "I'm not a lord anymore…" wonder clear in his voice.

Harry nodded, deciding that further discussion on this topic would be dangerous and he hesitantly made a step in Tom's direction. Just then the ice under Tom cracked. The man looked down, up, down again and cursed. Before he could do anything else the ice broke under him. Harry stood there looking as Tom disappeared under the icy surface. A second later he could see a pale face above the surface. It sure was angry.

"Bloody hell!" shouted the head and a hand joined it. Tom tried to grab onto some ice so he could get out of the water, but the ice kept breaking. Harry overcame his shock and lied down on ice and started crawling in Tom's direction.

"What on Earth are you doing?" exclaimed Tom, whose attempts to get out ended up in vain. Harry ignored the question and crawled closer. He reached his hand so that Tom could grab it. He pulled and somehow Tom got out of the icy water.

They sat for a minute on the ice, panting horribly. Tom cleared his throat and used a warming charm on both of them and a drying one on himself. Harry was a little bit scared of Tom's wand, but quickly overcame that fear. After all, Tom wouldn't kill his soon-to-be-husband, now, would he…?

And then Harry started giggling.

"What is so funny, if I may ask?" asked Tom, a little irritated by this whole situation. Damn his _brilliant_ ideas…

"I didn't know" started Harry trying to speak between his bursts of laughter "that dark lords had bad luck on ice."

* * *

The following day was the most bustling day Harry could remember. Everyone was busy and running furiously trying to do everything on time. He was given a black suit with red finishing by the Ministry. He didn't want to accept it, but well… He couldn't show up on his own wedding in his old robe he had used in his 4th year, could he?

The house elves made something like an outdoor mini Great Hall. There were tables, an elevation, lots of chairs, red, white and black roses, green napkins, white dressed house elves and a small dance floor. Harry had no idea what a dance floor was doing there, but he had a bad feeling. No way in hell he would dance. No way.

Tree hours before the ceremony guests started coming to the castle. Harry saw Fudge and some other people from the Ministry, Dumbledore dressed in baby-blue and pink robe, Weasley family (all informed about the wedding by Dumbledore, who insisted that all Harry's friends were to be on the wedding) and many more. Harry was near panic, waiting in Gryffindor main room, wearing his suit. His hands were trembling. He had no idea if he wouldn't faint in the middle of the ceremony. This was way too much for him. For Merlin's sake, he was sixteen years old! Who normal marries at such an early age? Oh, yes, boys-who-lived and want to save the world by marrying evil dark lords. He was the _lucky_ one to meet both conditions.

Suddenly Harry heard shouting from the other side of the portrait of Fat Lady.

"Let me in!"

"I won't, you son of Slytherin! You don't know the password, you won't enter!"

"I command you! Listen to me or you'll meet my wrath!"

"Oh, really? Playing that little Black dacoit? Oh...! Just wait! I'll call the headmaster and…"

"Listen, you piece of… You'd better open this bloody passage or I'll…"

"What's happening here?" asked Harry, opening the passage. There stood Tom, dressed in a black suit with dark green finishing, anger obvious on his face. The Fat Lady looked at the boy and asked:

"Harry, dear, is this one of your friends?"

Harry didn't know if he thought of Tom as a friend. However, he nodded his head and they both entered the main room, closing the passage behind them.

"Ready?" asked Tom, a tint of anxiousness in his voice. Harry looked at him. Even if there might have been a slight tint of anxiousness in his voice, his face surely didn't show it.

"As ready as I can be…" said Harry and sat on a chair in front of the chimney. Tom sat in a chair next to Harry's. They had been looking in the fire for a while and when Tom was about to say something, the fire grew bigger and a person went out of it.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed and hugged his godfather. Black returned his hug and spotted Riddle. He loosened the hug and looked at the man.

"Who are you?" he inquired, a dangerous string in his voice. Tom rolled his eyes.

"Tom Riddle's the name, got it memorized?" (A.N. God, I love this quote from KH2! Axel rules!)

Firstly Sirius didn't associate the name, but then he realized who it was.

"Voldemort!" he shouted and reached for his wand. Tom rolled his eyes again.

"Oh, please, spare me this show" said Tom and stood up. "I wanted to speak with Harry, but I guess I'll leave you two for now." Then he rested his look on Harry. "We'll meet later in the Great Hall." He left the room, cursing only slightly under his nose. _Damned godfathers…_

Sirius looked at Harry. Harry looked at Sirius. Then Sirius grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him into the chimney's direction.

"Okay, here's our chance to escape. We have some time before they realize that you're gone…"

Harry stopped him.

"Sirius, I have to do this. I cannot run away."

"Harry! You cannot honestly want to marry that piece of cr…"

"It's not that I want to marry him, I want peace! This is the only way, Sirius."

Padfoot looked at him, obviously shocked. Then he sighed.

"You are sure, aren't you…?"

"Yes, I am."

Sirius sighed again and hugged his godson.

"Well, then, take care of yourself. If anything bad happens you know who to call." Harry smiled.

"Yes. Thanks."

* * *

After a half hour chat with his godfather Harry went downstairs to meet up with his soon-to-be-husband. Tom was sitting at Slytherin table, balancing a knife on his index finger. When Harry came closer to him, the knife fell down, but Tom caught it before it hit the ground. He looked up.

"Hello" he said.

"Um, hey" Harry answered.

They stood and sat like that for a second.

"Come on, sit down" Tom suggested and pointed on a seat next to him. Harry hesitantly sat. The older wizard sighed.

"I know you don't want to do it" he said and made a face. Harry looked at him surprised. "But you realize it's necessary, don't you?" It wasn't a question. "It won't be that bad" he assured. Then he fell silent. After a while he spoke again. "Okay, I have no idea what to say. It has to be done, even though I'd rather just sign the papers than take part in this bloody ceremony. But your side insists…"

"You mean Dumbledore?"

"Yes." Tom smirked, it slightly resembling a smile. Both looked at the ground and sighed. "This is going to be a total disaster."

Harry had to agree.

* * *

The ceremony began. The guest were sitting in their seats, Harry and Tom were standing before the elevation, on which stood a priest. They had no idea what a priest was doing there, probably another idea of Dumbledore's. Usually priests didn't take part in magical weddings. But of course this _had_ to be different, didn't it…?

The priest had been talking for a good hour now, something about flowers, birds, bouquets, family and such things. The only person that seemed interested was Dumbledore. Even Hermione had trouble concentrating, especially because she was sitting next to Victor Krum. Everyone invited to the wedding could take a companion with themselves. Of course Granger asked Krum. It was another of the universe's truths.

Harry was bored out of his mind. He thought the wedding would be the scariest experience in his life, but it seemed to be the most boring one. It was even more boring than professor Binn's classes! He looked around. Yes, everyone except Dumbledore was bored. Some people were talking quietly, some man Harry didn't know had fallen asleep and started snoring lightly. Weasley twins tried to put fire on Fudge's hat, their mother trying to stop them. Ron was glancing in Draco's and Pansy's direction, Draco sitting on Ron's left, Pansy on Draco' left. Harry guessed they were invited because of Malfoy's loyalty to Voldemort. He saw some Death Eaters, looking clearly uncomfortable, dressed in black suits and dresses, glancing at Dumbledore and other members of the Order of Phoenix. It was pure comedy, just that it was a _boring_ comedy. Then Harry realized the priest was asking him something.

"Harry James Potter, do you…"

_Oh Merlin…_

Harry couldn't listen to it, he simply nodded and said a silent 'yes' when the priest stopped talking. Tom did the same thing. Then the worst came.

"You may kiss the… hm… groom."

Harry was terrified. He couldn't move, he couldn't say anything. Tom looked at him. Harry made the most pleading eyes ever trying to show Tom he didn't want to do it. But then Tom moved closer to him and put his both hands on the sides of Harry's face. He pulled their heads closer…

Harry closed his eyes. He was going to be kissed by Tom Riddle. In front of all people, in fact! He was sure there were some reporters there, even though they forbade them to. But the kiss never came.

"I won't force you if you don't want to" Tom whispered, his mouth only inches away from Harry's. The boy realized the hands hid their lips from other people's sight and even though they hadn't kissed, other people thought they had. He heard some squealing and giggling, some clasping and cheering. He also heard Dumbledore blowing his nose out. He opened his eyes and saw Tom's ones _very_ close to his. He blushed. Tom moved away, leaving his hands on Harry's cheeks for a little longer, then took them away.

_Well, this might not be so bad after all…_ he thought.

The rest of the ceremony melted into one meaningless experience that no one remembered later and soon it was over. Harry was confused. No one had told him what he was supposed to do. He looked around. Tom looked at him and he could see a small trace of a smile. This day was full of surprises. Then came the speeches: first Dumbledore, then Fudge and some other people Harry didn't know or didn't care to listen to. Tom, who was still standing next to him, yawned and sighed. He was bored like hell as well. And then the music started playing. It seemed like Dumbledore brought something like muggle CD-player but with no loudspeakers. The music seemed to sound in the air out of nowhere. And then he realized what the song was…

"Backstreet boys!" Harry and Tom groaned at the same time. No way in hell they would dance to that song!

"…_It's not that I can't live without you… It's just that I don't even want to try-y-y…" _

Without hesitation Tom swayed his wand and the music changed. Dumbledore let out a small cry and some people cheered. The music changed to some old type of waltz, violin and piano being the leading instruments. Tom bowed theatrically to Harry and held out a hand.

"Would you like to dance?"

Hell, there was no way he could get out of it. Harry sighed and nodded his head. Soon Tom was to experience how terrible dancer the boy was. Oh well, some things cannot be helped.

They moved to the dance floor, eyes of everyone fixed on them. Then they started dancing.

Harry had to admit, Tom was a great dancer. The man seemed to notice Harry's poor attempts to dance, so he changed the way he danced. He was the leading one now, swaying Harry in his arms, showing him how to dance. It didn't turn out that bad after all. When the dance ended Tom loosened his grip on Harry's hands. He left one hand and brushed the other one with his lips. Harry blushed. Then Tom said in snake language:

"_Don't worry, I'll teach you how to dance later." _

Harry nodded his head, somewhat thankful.

Then they were finally free to sit at the table. Tom and Harry sat at the main table, only for the two of them. If was a little bit weird, but, ah, well, what wasn't on that wedding? Harry had the chance to look around. What he saw shocked him no less.

Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley, who were sitting next to each other, were holding hands under the table! Harry's mouth opened and he sat there in shock. Tom noticed this and followed his look. When he saw the odd pair he smirked.

"Hm, I always knew the Weasley and Malfoy families would get one day together, but I haven't expected such a couple" he said wondering.

Harry stood from the table, Tom following him.

_This might be fun, _thought Riddle.

Harry stopped next to Ron's seat. Ron noticed him, instantly let go of Draco's hand and greeted his friend.

"What's up, mate?"

"Ron Weasley! You were holding hands with Draco Malfoy!"

Tom tried to stop his laughter. Ron's face became the colour of his hair, Draco's cheeks' turned a little bit pink, but he still rolled his eyes and smirked.

"I assume that the hiding-in-the-closet part is now over, Ron" said Draco.

Harry was speechless. He opened his mouth trying to say something and finding no words he closed it again. He repeated the said motion a few times.

"Oh, and Potter, thanks for the Christmas present" Draco smirked. "It was quite useful." Draco showed some marks on his wrists.

"Oh, God…" Harry couldn't believe his eyes.

"Honestly, Potter, that Granger girl realized it like one year ago already. And you have to see to find it out… Really…"

Harry wanted to say something, but Tom stopped him. Draco also wanted to say something more, but Ron stopped him. After a minute, Tom cleared his throat.

"Well, boys, however entertaining standing here might be, I'd rather go back to my table. If you excuse us now…" He put a hand on Harry's shoulder and pushed him back into the direction of their table. This truly was a surprising day.

* * *


	4. The Wedding Night

_Hello, sorry that it's so late. Tuesay-thursday i had a hangover, friday I was in the cinema. Yesterday I started writing this, but I had completely no idea what to write. Thankfully a friend, who is also the beta of this, helped me a lot. Everyone, bow to Kaśka a.k.a. Katze! xD This chapter's short, but get your tissues, you yaoi-fangirls, because drolling is unavoidable Enjoy!_

* * *

**4. The Wedding Night**

* * *

Harry was sitting at his and Tom's table. The food had been served, many delicious dishes, but he couldn't avert his eyes from the sight which Draco and Ron presented. Well, they hadn't come out yet, but since now he knew about them he started noticing some stuff which had now a completely different meaning. Those sly remarks Draco said to Ron had a tint of sexuality in them and the anger with which Ron reacted was probably fake. Sometimes Harry could see how they touched hands or _looked_ at each other. Harry started subconsciously understanding, what the _look_ meant. But it was still a long road before he would realize it.

Many people came to the newlyweds' table to talk with them. Sirius kept talking with Harry for a long time, shooting death glares at Riddle. Hermione came and congratulated them, a small anxiousness heard in her voice when she spoke to Tom. Ron and Draco stayed away from Harry; they didn't want to shock him furthermore. Dumbledore also came to talk with them, but he was soon gone, after some of Tom's cutting remarks. It was plain obvious he didn't like the headmaster. Well, it wasn't a surprise.

And then Tom spotted a bottle of champagne. He glanced at Harry, who was slowly falling asleep in his seat now that Ron and Draco disappeared somewhere. Tom looked at the bottle again. Well, why not? He had to have some fun.

"Harry" he asked the younger boy. Raven haired looked at him. "Would you mind a glass of champagne?"

* * *

The party was ending. It wasn't such a disaster, thought Tom. None of his Death Eater killed any other human, he had fun discovering the Wesley-Malfoy couple, Harry seemed to have quite enjoyed his company and they drank a _few_ bottles of champagne. What he did not know was that Harry wasn't used to drinking alcohol.

"Happy New Year!" exclaimed the boy and drank yet another glass. Tom started believing that the boy had indeed too much. He glanced at his watch. It was getting late, most of the guests had already left. Dumbledore was still dancing with Minerva on the dance floor to some Britney Spears' song. He sighed and looked at his _husband_.

Harry was snoring lightly, his head on his arm, which was lying on the table.

_Oops, _thought Tom. Harry really _did _have too much. He sighed yet again and stood up. He would have to carry the boy to their room. He smirked. There was no way in hell he was letting go of Harry now. He was his husband now, wasn't he? He took Harry in his arms, ironically, bridal style.

He tried not to bump in anyone, _especially_ Dumbledore, which he somehow managed to do, except one intentional encounter with Hermione Granger, when he _accidentally_ spilled some juice on her pink dress.

"Watch your steps, Miss Granger" he said coldly in superiority. The girl looked at her dress, which was ruined now. Victor wanted to say something, but when he saw the cold glare Tom was giving him he resigned. Tom smirked mentally. Yes, he should do such things more often. He moved into the castle's direction.

* * *

When they got to the room Tom laid Harry on the bed. The boy rolled onto his side and curled into an embryonic position. Tom stared at him for a second. Then he loosened his tie and smirked. He said a spell that made the room soundproof and locked the door, so that no one could neither enter nor leave the room without Tom's permission. It was his wedding night and he was about to have fun. Harry heard the sound of Tom's voice and stood up from the bed.

"Ugh… Tom?" said the boy, still not fully awake, staggering slightly. "I need to use the bathroom… are these doors…?"

"_Shush_" said Tom and neared the boy. Harry wanted to turn around to look at the other man, but said man had caught him from behind and held him tightly.

"T-Tom?"

The Dark Lord only smirked. Where should he being…? He licked Harry's ear. The boy trembled slightly. He moved his head lower, nuzzling the boy's neck. He smelled of champagne and _strawberries_. Riddle licked his own lips and then bit the boy, making sure to leave a love-mark. The boy sighed still drowsy, his mind away from his body.

Tom moved his hand slowly and caressed Harry's abdomen and started undoing the boy's belt. Harry opened his eyes fully, not understanding what was happening. Then he felt the biting and the pressure below his stomach…

"Aah!" screamed Harry and tried to get away.

Surprised Tom loosened his grip on the boy a little and Harry spun around looking into the other man's face. Tom's look was full of need and he wouldn't listen to any objections. Harry backed up to the wall, trying to run away from the other man. Tom was slowly starting to lose his patience.

"_Scared?_" asked Tom in parseltongue. Harry was freaking out by now.

"W-what are you d-doing" inquired the boy.

Riddle didn't say anything, he just gave Harry the _look. _He was nearing him slowly, keeping the eye contact all that time.

Realization hit the boy. _Oh my fucking God…! He's going to rape me!_ Harry couldn't remember the last time he had felt so terrified. He decided. Suddenly the boy leaped to his right, deluding himself that he'd get to the door in time. But of course Tom was faster. He caught the boy and pushed him roughly into wall. Harry's eyes were wide with fear. Tom held the boy's hands firmly on the wall above their heads.

"_Don't you even _dare_ to run away" _he hissed into the other's ear. The boy struggled under him, his eyes getting teary. Tom lowered his head again and pushed their bodies together. "_You are mine now" _he whispered into the boy's ear, nibbling onto it. When no answer came he pulled back a little and looked Harry in the face. And then he cursed.

The boy was crying. His eyes were closed not to look at the other man. He was trembling even more now.

"Crying won't help you!" exclaimed the Dark Lord in normal language. The boy tried to curl himself up, but he was held tightly. Tom stared at him.

"Screw it!" yelled Tom and roughly moved away from Harry. He grabbed his jacket on his way to the door. He exited the room not taking the spells of. If that boy didn't want to spend the bloody night with him he'd spend it alone.

Harry was left alone, trembling and still not believing in what had happened. He touched the places where Tom had kissed him and stared at the door. He was so screwed.

* * *

Tom rushed through the halls. Everything was silent, but thoughts were spinning in his head. He was _furious_! It was his wedding night and the freaking boy wouldn't even… _Aaaargh! _

Before he realized it, he was standing in front of Slytherin house entrance. Well, he didn't _see_ it, it was more he _knew _it. He was standing between cold bare walls in the dungeons. He smirked and hissed something in parseltongue. A passage opened. Sometimes being the heir of Slytherin was quite useful.

He entered Slytherin main room and sat on a chair next to the chimney. He sighed. At least he could relax in his old house, his favourite place in the whole school.

"My lord…?" a voice sounded behind him. It was Lucious Malfoy.

"Don't. Even. Ask." Tom hissed, not looking at the other man. "Or I'll tear every single inch of that pitiful body of yours, limb after limb."

No answer came.

Meanwhile…

Harry was sitting on the bed holding his arms around knees, his head down. He still couldn't believe in what had happened. Now he was thinking about what Tom had wanted to do to him. The boy knew this would happen sooner or later, but so soon? He wasn't prepared for such stuff yet… And anyways…

He imagined two men doing _it. _

Hell, it was just so_ sick_ and _wrong _for him! It wasn't a big problem that such people existed. He didn't have to see them doing _it_. It wasn't his problem. But now he realized it was his problem after all, a huge problem indeed.

But then he remembered the way Tom had held him… the way Tom had kissed him… Harry blushed. This wasn't sick and wrong. This was different. He didn't know how, but it was. The way Tom had touched him was different, way different.

And then Harry looked down and cursed. There was a _long_ night ahead of him.

* * *

When the morning came, the Dark Lord could swear he hadn't felt such pain since he had gained this body. He decided that he should have included the total destruction of sofas in the agreement's points. He left the couch with a grimace on his face. Slowly he moved into the direction of his and Harry's room. He had to open the damned doors otherwise the boy wouldn't be able to get out. He smirked. Maybe it wasn't that bad…? Nevertheless he still went to the room.

At that time Harry also woke up. He turned onto his right side, but he couldn't fall asleep again. He tried turning onto his left side, but still sleep didn't want to come back to him. He threw the quilt off of him. He noticed Tom's black coat lying on the bed, next to him. The man must have left it when he ran out of the room. Harry reached for the piece of clothing and pulled it closer to him. He could smell Tom's scent on the coat. He inhaled it and remembered the things Tom had done to him the previous night. The places where Tom had kissed him burned him, making it impossible to forget about it. Strange warmth filled his body and he moaned, clenching onto the coat.

Suddenly the doors opened and Tom walked into the room. The boy tried to pull the quilt over himself, but he couldn't reach it. The older man looked at the raven haired boy and cracked an eyebrow. The boy evidently had a _problem_ in his trousers. And plus, the boy was clenching onto his coat. He smirked mentally and slowly neared the boy.

Harry was blushing heatedly. It didn't help him, that, indeed, he had a _problem_ and Tom was looking straight into his eyes. He tried to look away and then the man lowered himself onto the boy, slightly touching him, resting his body weight on his arms. Harry's heart became beating incredibly fast.

"T-Tom…?" asked Harry.

Tom didn't say anything, just gave a cold meaningful glare. He leaned more and said into the boy's ear.

"The breakfast's waiting downstairs." Then he grabbed his coat, which was lying behind the boy, stood up and walked out of the room like nothing had happened, leaving the boy dumbfounded. On his way out he took the spells off and smirked in mind. He didn't get what he had wanted that night, but the look on Harry's face was priceless.


	5. The Daily Life

_Yay, two chapters today! It all thanks to the fact that since monday I've been sick and spending most of my time writing the story and doing nothing " Well, enjoy!_

_Big thankies to Katze for co-writing yet again!_

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**5. Daily life**

* * *

"What on Earth do you think you are doing?!"

"Molly, I'm sure it's not…"

"Albus! You've put that innocent boy into the same room as that monster!"

Tom and Harry entered the Great Hall. Molly Weasley was standing there in front of the teacher's table, shouting at Dumbledore, who was holding one hand on his forehead, a clear proof of his hangover. Weasley twins were sitting at the Gryffindor table, trying not to laugh. Mrs. Weasley obviously didn't notice the _newlyweds_.

"He's just a child! Who knows what that… that _freak_ could do to him?!" Tom looked at the woman, his eyebrow twitching. Harry, who was walking behind him, blushed slightly and smiled. Mrs. Weasley was right, but he thanked Merlin, that she did not know what that _freak_ had wanted to do to him. "And, anyways, who agreed on this?! They both are men! Just because you're bisexual, it doesn't mean every single boy in Hogwarts is gay!"

Suddenly the twins' laughter stopped. Molly looked at her two sons, who blushed feverishly and looked away. She made big eyes, realization falling onto her like a bucket of cold water… She fainted. The twins rushed to their mother, yelling at each other.

"George! Look what you've done!"

"Me?! She was looking at you!"

"You're the one that sneaked into my bed!"

"Because you _wanted_ me to sneak in it!"

"Who said that?!"

"Well, you didn't protest!"

The boys got to their mother, who was lying unconscious on the floor. Dumbledore, trying not to giggle, helped them to take her to her room. Harry looked at them offering help, but the old wizard waved his hand, dismissing the boy. Tom smirked and sat at Slytherin table. Harry, not knowing what to do, decided it was the best to sit next to his _husband_. They were sitting there silently, Tom consuming some French toasts with ham, cheese and tomatoes, Harry nibbling onto some sandwich. Harry's mind was occupied with anxiety. He was embarrassed because of the events of the last night. He was sure Tom was mad at him, he had a good reason. But why couldn't he see that Harry was not ready yet? The boy sighed and continued nibbling onto his sandwich.

On the other hand, Tom wasn't anxious at all. Sure, he was angry with the boy, after all, at some point in their lives, people stop fearing of losing their virginity and start fearing of not losing it. After seventy years of no sexual life, Tom was _very _seriously afraid of the second. It didn't help him, that he had the body of a young man again. He could feel blood rushing through his veins, his heart beating faster and the indefatigable energy. This and Harry's looks were making him hang on the borderline of his self-control. While devouring his third toast he imagined the boy lying on the table in front of him, all flushed, legs spread apart, begging him to touch him… Tom shook his head and hit himself mentally. He wasn't supposed to think such things! Not at breakfast, when the boy was sitting next to him and when the said boy didn't even want to kiss him! He had had no idea what trouble he was getting into when he had signed the points of agreement.

Soon they finished eating and headed out of the Great Hall. They had been asked to go to Dumbledore's office after the breakfast. He wanted to discuss some things with them. They were on their way to the office when Tom heard Harry's footsteps subside into silence. He turned around, his eyebrow twitching again. Harry stood there, face down, fringe covering his eyes. This intrigued Tom.

"You're coming?" asked the man.

"…Tom… I-I…" Harry started stuttering. The Dark Lord tilted his head. "I'm sorry… for tonight… I… I just, you know… I haven't… done _it_ before… and I, um… I was scared! I know you must… feel… erm… be angry with me… for that… so I… um… I'm sorry."

Harry looked him in the eye, his own eyes teary and scared. This was too much for Tom. He quickly neared the boy, pressed him into the wall and kissed. This time the boy seemed to resist less, nevertheless, he was still struggling, only a little less. Tom entangles his fingers in the boy's hair, deepening the kiss…

Suddenly they heard a sound of something hitting the ground. Tom slowly moved a little away from the boy, he had already a bad feeling. Both boys looked into the direction from where the sound came. What they saw there wasn't a pleasant surprise.

There, next to the corner, stood a small group of Ravenclaw girls. Tom cursed in his mind. He knew them; they were the fan-girls…

"Oh! My! God!" squealed one of them, the rest doing the same. One of the girls, with long blonde hair and glasses, grabbed some old fashioned camera and tried to take a picture. Another one, also with glasses but with short spiky brown hair, took a pencil and a sketchbook out of somewhere and started drawing something hastily. The boys had a really bad feeling about it. But they didn't have much time. Tom quickly glanced at Harry, giving him a '_Run-for-your-life!_' look, grabbed his hand and started running away. The girls giggled and started squealing something about rainbows…

After a few good minutes of running, they stopped hearing the squealing. Tom sighed and tried to regulate his breathing. That done, he looked at Harry, who instantly looked away and his face reddened. Tom sighed again.

"About your monologue… Forgive me, Potter, for my lack of comprehension of your virginity" he said, turned around and started walking away.

Harry made a surprised face and blushed hearing the word 'virginity'. However… _Eeeh?… Compr… what? - _ he thought and started running after Tom.

* * *

Tom knocked slightly on the door to Dumbledore's office. A short 'come in' was heard from the other side and both boys entered the room. Headmaster was sitting in his chair behind the desk, doing a pyramid of cards. Snape was sitting in front of his desk, with an expression saying 'what have I done to be punished like this?'. When they came in, the pyramid collapsed. Disappointed old wizard shook his head, waved his wand and the cards disappeared.

"Good morning, dear boys" said Dumbledore. "Have a seat." He pointed two puffy chairs in front of his desk, next to Snape's. Harry obediently sat in his chair; however, Tom sat on Harry's chair's armrest, crossing his legs and keeping one arm on the chair's backrest. Harry glanced at the Dark Lord, but he didn't say anything.

"Okay, Dumbledore, speak up. Why did you bring us here?" asked Tom. Dumbledore was silent for a while and then he said:

"Well, tomorrow morning the classes start. I wanted to discuss with you the matter of Harry's education and place of living."

"Excuse me, sir, but what _is_ there do discuss? I'm staying at Hogwarts." Harry said and looked at Tom, then at the headmaster. "Or am I not…?"

"I'd rather have you in my mansion" Tom said. "I could teach you some subjects by myself and some of my _subordinates_ are qualified enough to teach you the rest."

Tom and Dumbledore looked expectantly. The boy flushed.

"Tom, I'm sure you could… but I'd really like more to stay at Hogwarts…"

"Well, then!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "Everything is clear now. The boy's staying at Hogwarts and will be attending classes like every other student…"

"I must disagree" Tom said. "In the agreement's points it was clearly written, that Harry is to live with me, no matter if it's the school year or holiday." Harry looked disbelievingly at Dark Lord.

"But…! Where…?"

"Point 7.b. about your obligations" the man said in superiority.

"I haven't read that!"

"It's not my fault you signed the papers without reading them."

Harry hung his head and cursed in his mind. True, he should have read all the agreement's points before signing them…

"Anyway, there was nothing forbidding the boy to learn at Hogwarts" said Snape to Harry's surprise. He made a mental note not to say anything bad about the Potions' Master for the next week.

"Great!" exclaimed the boy. "Which means I can stay here and…"

"But there still is the matter of us living together" cut Tom.

The silence fell in the room. After a minute or two, Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Tom, my boy, what would you say to a position of DADA teacher?"

Tom smirked. Snape cursed in his mind. Severus had been teaching DADA for half year already and was proud as hell of that. Sure, he had a lot on his shoulders since he had been teaching Potions at the same time, but he didn't complain. After such a long time he had finally gained the position of DADA teacher. Now, it was to be taken from him.

"Why, I'd _love_ to." Tom said, glancing at Harry. The boy had a really bad feeling about that.

"And about you two living together…" Dumbledore continued. "I'm sure Harry could live with you in the DADA teacher's rooms."

Harry gulped. There was no way out of it. Tom's smirk didn't help him at all.

"Splendid" said Tom.

* * *

Tom and Harry entered their room. It was nothing like Harry remembered from when Lupin was the DADA teacher. Somehow, one room turned into four giant ones: a master-bedroom, a living room, a washroom and a library. Harry had to admit it was really nice; everything was in hues of bronze, black and white. To his surprise there was only a slight tint of green here and there. Indeed, there was a huge bed in the bedroom, black covers and pillows, the material seemed to be somewhat like velvet, but the boy decided that it was better not to know for now.

Their belongings were lying in the living-room waiting to be unpacked. There was one Harry's suitcase and an empty owl cage. As for Tom, there were lying two small black suitcases.

"Well, let's get unpacked then, shall we?" said Tom, sat on the couch and waved his wand. The black suitcases opened and various things started flying out of them. The suitcases seemed to have no bottom. From the first one there were flying clothes and things of daily usage. From the other one there were flying dozens of books, right into the library, positioning themselves at the bookshelves.

"Wow" Harry sighed and Tom smirked.

"Want me to do the same with your things?"

"Erm, no, thanks, I'll do it by myself" Harry declined the offer and started unpacking his belongings. Tom stood up and walked up to the boy, who was trying to pick up the suitcase to carry it to the bedroom. The man took it from him easily and without looking at the boy carried it to the bedroom. Harry blushed and followed. Tom laid the suitcase on the ground and Harry started unpacking. The Dark Lord was still staring at him. The boy felt uncomfortable under his eyes.

"So… um… Is there anything in the agreement's points that I don't know about and should know?" Harry asked just to say something. Tom remained silent for a moment, like contemplating whether to answer or not.

"Well… you already know about 7.b. which says about us living together" said the man. "However, have you read the point 7.a.?" he asked and sneaked behind the boy. Harry stood up and spun around to face the man.

"Um… no…?"

"Well…" Tom began and bended down so that his eyes were on the same level as Harry's. "The point 7.a. is about…" he bended down even more, so now he was whispering to Harry's ear "…having sex at least once a week." Harry blushed furiously and jumped away. Tom laughed shortly seeing the boy's reaction.

"But…! I…!" Harry tried to say something in his defence.

"…But…" continued Tom. "Since you're oh-so-scared of losing your virginity I won't insist on raping you... see what a loving husband I am?" said that Tom smirked and went out off the room leaving the boy dumbfounded yet again.

The rest of the day went by really quickly, at least for Harry. He couldn't name even one single thing he'd done before the evening came. He _knew_ he was on dinner and supper, however he did not remember much of it. He woke up from that state when they were back in their rooms. The night was near and Harry was becoming more and more anxious each minute. He was sitting on the couch, nervously glancing at the bedroom. Tom was sitting next to him, reading some book. After some time Harry coughed nervously.

"I… I'll take a bath" he said. He couldn't stand the silence anymore. Tom nodded, absorbed in his book.

They boy went to the washroom. It was huge. Light-green, white and silver tiles were on the floor and the walls. Alight candles were burning in their holders by the walls. In the middle there was a giant bath, remembering Harry the one in prefects' bathroom. He unscrewed some of the water-taps. It was almost like the washroom knew what the boy liked – the water smelled of champagne and strawberries, Harry's favourite scent, and there were snow-white bubbles forming on the water surface. He took his clothes off and went into the water. It was perfect.

After the bath the boy put some pyjamas on himself, which he found in one of the cabinets. They were a little too big for him, yet they didn't fall off of him. The pyjamas were dark green colour, they were warm and comfortable. The boy left the washroom and entered the living-room. This caught Tom's attention.

"Oh? You're already done?" asked the man, eyeing Harry's body. The boy blushed and nodded. It was already 10 PM. "Well, I guess it's my turn now. See you later…" said Tom, put his book onto the table and went to the bathroom. When he was passing Harry by, he rubbed their shoulders for a mere second. This made the boy's face redden again. Tom smirked. He just _loved_ to toy with the raven haired.

When Tom was gone Harry walked to the couch and sat on it. He sighed. He must find some way to stop blushing! It was getting on his nerve. He wasn't some kind of a small girl, who blushed and giggled every minute! He growled and then his eyes landed on the book, which Tom had been reading. The boy reached for it and picked it up, careful not to close it. He looked at the title - "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare. Harry heard about this book. It was written by some muggle that loved tragedy and usually most of the main heroes in his books ended up dead. Harry cracked an eyebrow. Why on earth was Tom reading that book? There were a lot of things that the boy didn't know about the Dark Lord, he realized. He carefully put the book away and headed to the bedroom, where he lied on the bed. It was comfortable, yet not too soft and not too hard. Almost like the bed _knew_ how hard it was supposed to be. Harry shook his head. No, it was impossible for these things to read minds. He sighed and hugged a pillow. This was his second night with Tom. Well, actually the first one, since he had spent the last one alone, all thanks to his fear and Tom's needs. Tom's attitude upset him. Why the man couldn't see that he was scared? Well… At least he had promised not to rape him… At any rate, that was what he had _said_.

Soon Tom finished taking his bath and went into the bedroom, only in the bottom of his pyjamas. The boy looked away, embarrassed. Tom walked to him and stood there, eyeing the raven haired. Harry was sitting on the bed, under the quilt, clenching onto one of the pillows. The man sighed. He bended over, close to Harry, grabbed the other pillow and started walking away. Harry was taken aback.

"We'll have to tell Dumbledore tomorrow to get an extra bed. Otherwise I'll get a great backache" he said, not looking back, heading to the couch. When he left the bedroom, he closed the door.

Harry looked at the closed door and couldn't believe in what had happened. Then he sighed relieved and lied relaxed onto the bed. However he felt guilty. It was his fault that Tom was going to sleep on the couch. He shrugged it. After all it was Tom's idea to live in the same rooms. As for Harry, he could have lived in Gryffindor tower, like he had used to. So if Tom wanted them to live together, he could suffer a little bit. And anyway, he said they were going to ask for a second bed the next day, so the problem was solved. Harry sighed and slowly drifted to the sleep-land.

* * *

Harry woke up feeling anxious. It was the middle of the night and it was almost pitch black in the room. He could hardly see the objects. He lied there for a long time, but he couldn't fall asleep again. He tried turning from side to side, lying on his back, then on his stomach, yet nothing helped. And it wasn't helpful that each second he felt more and more anxious. He had a feeling like someone was watching him. He pulled up his knees under his chin and curled, yet he couldn't sleep. After some time the fear won with embarrassment and he stood up. He hesitantly headed towards the living room. When he entered the room he moved to sleeping Tom. He was lying on his back on the couch, a pillow under his head, no quilt or blanked on him. Harry moved closer to the man, slightly poking him into his arm. The man didn't react.

"Tom?" Harry whispered and bended down a little to see the man's face.

Suddenly Tom grabbed the boy's hand and pulled him onto his chest. Harry blushed mortified and tried to move away, not sure what the man was doing, but Tom held him close, hugging him. When Harry didn't stop struggling, Tom opened his eyes and seeing what was happening, he growled.

"Potter, if you sneak into my bed in the middle of the night be ready to face the consequences…" he hissed and held the boy even stronger. Harry made a surprised face, not understanding what Tom had in mind. The man sighed and hit the boy with a pillow. The raven haired yelped and Tom smirked. "Go to sleep, you cry-baby."

Tom loosened his hold on the boy, but he still kept his hands on the boy's back. Harry looked around. The couch was too small to fit two people, so if he wanted not to sleep in the bedroom, he had two choices: sleep on the ground or sleep on Tom. He hesitantly chose the second. It was warm, it was comfortable and at least for now Tom wasn't trying to rape him.

* * *


	6. The first DADA classes & Shakespeare

_ This was supposed to be an bonus story, but it ended up being a whole new chapter. It's quite funny in the beginning and quite serious at the end. Fans of Shakespeare thumbs up! xD_

_Yes, yet another chapter done by me and Katze x) Enjoy!_

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**6. Fist DADA classes & Shakespeare**

_

* * *

_

The next day the first lesson was ironically DADA. Harry hadn't seen Tom that day yet. The man had woken up earlier, somehow had managed to get out from under the boy not waking him up and had left the room. Harry wasn't sure if he was ready for the lessons with Tom.

Ron and Hermione were chatting next to him. They were to have advanced DADA lessons with Tom. Because it was advanced lessons and not many wanted to take them, all houses had those classes together. Thanks to that, Ron was glancing at Draco, who was glancing at Ron and shooting death glared to Hermione, who was holding onto Ron's shoulder. Harry also kept glancing, but at his watch, nervously counting seconds left to the class. He'd give all his fortune away just not to have lessons with, for crying out loud, his husband. The rumours spread quickly and now every single student in Hogwarts knew about their marriage, which obviously didn't help him, because all the Ravenclaw girls applied for the advanced DADA classes with Tom, hoping to see some 'action'. Harry wanted to slam his head into the wall.

Punctually at 8 AM the doors to DADA classroom opened by themselves. The students looked at each other and slowly entered the room, intrigued. Tom was already sitting in his chair in a disdainful pose. He was balancing the chair, his legs crossed, one arm behind his head and a book in the other. Harry recognized the book. Once again it was "Hamlet". When all students seated themselves (_accidentally_ Ron next to Draco, both seeming angry about that fact; Harry next to Hermione in the first row) Tom put his book away onto his desk and stood up. He was dressed in dark jeans trousers, black shoes, black shirt and a brownish chequered sleeveless sweatshirt on the shirt. Tree first buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing some of his chest. Ravenclaw girls giggled silently in the back of the classroom.

"Good, welcome to the Defence Against Dark Arts classes. I'm Tom Marvolo Riddle, but as for you, professor Riddle" he smirked, glancing at Harry. Oh, he just had a brilliant idea about Harry calling him that name late at night. He mentally shook his head. It was not the time to think about that. Now he was to scare the kids. "Most of you probably know that I am Lord Voldemort, but since the war is over, I'm back to my old name." He rolled his eyes. Harry suspected Dumbledore had something to do with it. "So you see, of course I'm the best candidate to do this job. _However_… I'm to teach you and you're to learn. If you don't plan on cooperating with me, you may leave now or face the consequences later." He glared at the young wizards, chills running through their spines. The students had to admit, he still had the power. "What have you taken past the last half year with Snape?" he asked looking at Hermione.

The girl shifted uncomfortably in her seat and answered.

"Well… Not much… Professor Snape made us read the whole textbooks, we didn't practice much…"

"Oh?" Tom stopped her and walked to the blackboard, where was written 'Lesson 54 – Werewolves, Vampires, Sirens and Ghouls. Textbook 3, pages 1311 – 1620.' He cracked an eyebrow. "Who have read the last lesson from the textbook? I assume it was your homework." He looked at the class, everyone looked down, except for Hermione, who raised her hand up. He smirked. From what he heard, Snape liked to victimize Harry. It was time for Tom to have some fun as well. He neared Harry's and Hermione's table, the girl's eyes twinkling, as she thought that at least this professor would recognize her knowledge. However, Tom stopped by Harry and not looking at him, asked: "Mr. Potter, could you tell me how sirens lure their victims?"

Harry looked down. Great, first Snape, now Tom. Could this get any better? But then he remembered the answer, surprised himself that he actually knew it.

"Um… by singing?" he asked hopefully. Hermione lowered her hand, eyeing the boy.

"Hm… Good" said Tom and finally looked at Harry. "Now… how often does a werewolf turn into a wolf form?"

"Um… every full-moon?"

"Mr. Potter, are you asking me?"

"No, no, _professor_. Werewolf turns into a wolf form every full-moon."

"And how often is that?"

"Eee…" Harry looked at Hermione, who slapped her knees with her hands opened two times and the third time with 3 fingers bent. "Every twenty seven days."

"Good to know you can communicate with your friends, Mr. Potter" Tom said and glanced at Hermione, who blushed and looked down. "So for now it's a 2-1 for truth. Hm… Tell me, how does a vampire drink people blood?" Tom said and smirked, showing his fangs, which seemed almost like vampire ones.

"Well… A vampire bites your neck… Usually seduces you first so that you're relaxed…" said Harry. He had read half of the subject, the part about vampires and ghouls, so now he was trying to remember what was written in the damned textbook.

"Yes, continue" Tom said in a low voice, resting his body weight onto his left leg and left arm, which was supported onto Harry's table. He was still smirking.

"Yes, so… They seduce you and then take somewhere where no one else can see you… Oh, and it's at night, because vampires can't stand the sun. Hm… They usually pretend to kiss you on the neck…" Tom smirked even more hearing this. Harry realized what the man was thinking about. Harry blushed, remembering their wedding night, when Tom had kissed and bit his neck. He subconsciously rubbed his neck, trying hard to speak. "Well… then they l-lick the place they want to bite, then they bite it delicately, so that the saliva can get into the body and make the spot numb. Next they bite h-harder and slowly drink the blood until the victim's h-heart stop beating. They cannot drink blood from dead people; that's why they hunt for healthy women and men, because their blood is the best for them." Harry ended his speech, proud of himself. Tom nodded his head.

"Good, 10 points to Gryffindor" Tom said and walked away. Harry sighed and relaxed. The man didn't ask him any hard questions, he just wanted to play with him and remind him about the kiss he ran away from…

"Oh, yes, Mr. Potter" Harry had a bad feeling. "Can you escape a vampire once it's bitten you?" asked Tom, sitting onto his chair in his previous pose.

"No… I don't think so, _sir_."

"That's completely true. Make sure to remember that" said that, Tom smirked and directed his look onto the board. Harry's face flushed. The man waved his wand, making the text from blackboard disappear. "Everyone, you can throw your useless books away. What you really should be doing during these classes is learning how to defend yourselves… just in case some other genius wants to rule over the world again." The students looked at each other and started whispering something. "Or if you disturbed some magical creature. Remember, magical creatures don't attack you because they want to. They are either hungry and you've entered their hunting ground or you've disturbed them. As for today I'll teach you how to use a spell named '_hell-dismay_'. It's one of my inventions… No, Mrs. Granger, it doesn't have to be Latin. Actually the spells I've created don't need any incantations. In real battle you don't have enough time to shout some meaningless words, so they are quite useful. This spell makes your opponent fall into some kind of stupor and think of things he's scared of, so that even when he wakes up from this state he'll be unnerved and you'll have a higher chance to win. That is, unless you kill him before he does that. The spells duration depends on your will and on how good you made the required wand movement. Now, look" he said and waved his wand in some complicated, yet short, movement. He repeated it again. He looked around the classroom. Not even Hermione seemed to have remembered the movement. He growled and made another move with his wand. A white translucent hand appeared in the air, next to the blackboard. It held a wand and was doing the 'hell-dismay' spell movement. "Now, try the spell on your partner. Your partner will be the person who is sitting next to you. Anyone left without a pair?"

Everyone looked around, trying to see if there was such a poor fellow. Neville hesitantly raised his hand.

"M-me…" he stuttered. Tom looked at him, surprised. He recognized the boy. It was Longbottom's son. He nodded his head and motioned the boy to come to him.

"Stand there, Mr. Longbottom" he said, the boy doing what he had been told, trembling only slightly, trying hard to look brave. "Try doing the spell on me. If you don't make it on time, I'll hit you with one of my spells. Ready? Go!"

Poor boy didn't even have the chance to move. Tom made an even more complicated movement with his wand and a spell hit the boy. He fell to the ground, snoring slightly.

"I guess I should have given him some handicap…" Tom wondered. He cleared his throat and looked at the terrified class. "Don't worry; I didn't hit him with the 'hell-dismay' spell. If I did, he'd be paralyzed with fear and having horrible visions for the following day. We wouldn't want that, now would we?" he asked. Harry was sure Tom would smirk, yet he didn't. He had a serious face. He picked the boy up. "Okay, you two" he pointed on some two boys from Hufflepuff. "Take him to the infirmary. Tell the nurse he should wake up in one hour, in time for your next classes. Dismissed" he said. "What are you waiting for?" Tom asked glaring the students who were sitting dumbfounded. Instantly they stood up, moved the tables away and started practicing. "Ah, one more thing" Tom added. The students looked at him. "Try doing the movement the right way. If you don't, someone might get hurt. And try not to practice on someone you hate. Too strong emotions can make the spell last more than needed."

Without any other advices, Tom sat in his chair in his trademark position and started reading his book again. Students were slowly trying the spell, glancing at the magical hand to make sure if they got the movements right. Harry was practicing with Hermione, Ron with Draco, next to them. They were near Tom's table, as they wanted to be as far as possible from the yaoi fan-girls, who were still in the back of the classroom, giggling and squealing. Harry hit Hermione with his spell the first time he tried, but she overcame her fear after a minute. Harry helped her up. She was crying and trembling. The spell must've worked. Ron immediately was next to them, trying to cheer the girl up. Tom glanced at the trio, smirking. He was sure Harry would learn quickly, but this was way past his expectations. Then he caught a sight of a movement, which was similar to the one he had told students to practice, yet it wasn't the same and could be dangerous. He quickly stood up. And then he cursed.

The one who was doing the spell was Draco Malfoy. He had jealously in his eyes and was looking at Ron, who was holding Hermione, trying to comfort her. He aimed the spell, but it flew past the girl and was flying into Harry's direction. Tom quickly pushed the boy away, making the spell hit him. Before Harry realized what had happened, Tom was lying on the floor. Students started staring. Hermione, who got over her state, checked the man's breathing.

"Oh God… Harry! He's not breathing!" she exclaimed, clenching her hands together in worry.

(A.N.: "Oh! My! God! They killed Lord Voldemort! You bastards!" Someone from the back of the class shouted. XD)

Harry was quickly next to Tom, who looked like he was sleeping, except the fact he really wasn't breathing. "Do something!" the girl shouted.

Harry panicked, not knowing what to do, remembered what the muggles had showed him in some kind of training the previous summer. There they showed them what to do, when someone wasn't breathing. All he remembered was that you had to breathe into the person and then press their chest.

"Hermione, quickly, mouth-to-mouth!" He exclaimed, positioning himself next to Tom's head. The girl made a surprised face, but quickly laid her hands onto Tom's chest. Harry took a deep breath in and bended down. He pushed his lips to Tom's breathing out, so that the air from his lungs went into the man's. He repeated the action and when he was about to do it for the third time a hand grabbed his neck and pulled closer to Tom. Harry saw Tom opening his eyes and then he felt the man kissing him. He tried to get away, but Tom's hand was firmly holding him. As in contrary Tom deepened the kiss. Just when he heard the Ravenclaw girls squeal and giggle, he let Harry go and stood up by himself. Most of the students were looking at him in shock, Harry was sitting on the floor, blushing furiously.

"Oh, looks like I died again… or not?" he smirked. "What? You thought you could kill _me_ with such a lamentable spell? Think it over again" he said and walked to Harry, giving him a hand to help him stand up. The boy took the offered hand. The Ravenclaw girls squealed even more. Ron quickly glanced at Draco. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for _help_" he said and _winked_.

"Yaaaay!" exclaimed the yaoi fan-girls.

"The power of the rainbow prevails yet again!" shouted the one in short brown spiky hair.

"Krzaki! Cockies!" shouted the blond one.

"Yaay! Toolzzzz!" exclaimed the first one again.

"Firmware!" shouted the second one and they all squealed. (A.N. Firmware Fear me, from an anecdote… nvm xD)

The rest of the students and Tom looked at the crazed girls.

"What the hell…?" Ron managed to ask.

"…Ignore them…" said Hermione." Even_I_ can't understand what they're talking about".

* * *

After the lesson the students were going out of the classroom. Just as they had expected, the classes were interesting and at least useful. They were chatting happily as they were leaving the room. Only Harry and Tom remained in the classroom.

"Tom?" asked Harry, when the man was picking up his book and disposing of the magical hand, which was still doing the 'hell-dismay' movement.

"Mhm" mumbled the man, trying to find the page in the book, on which he had finished reading. "What is it, Harry?" he inquired.

"Well… You see, about that spell… Why did you pretend to be dead?" asked the boy, hurt evident in his eyes. Tom looked at him and sighed.

"It's not that I was pretending. When the spell hit me I really lost my breath and couldn't breathe. It's just that I regained it quickly and heard that you wanted to do mouth-to-mouth. I couldn't let such an opportunity pass me by, now, could I?" the man looked at Harry and smiled. The boy blushed. He didn't know where to look, so he rested his sight on Tom's book. "Oh, this book?" asked Tom. "It's 'Hamlet' by Shakespeare. Ever heard of it?"

"Y-yeah, sure" said Harry. "Where everyone die and stuff?"

"Basically, yes. But it's more than the dieing. It's not that simple. Sure, most of the characters die, but that's near the ending of the book. You see, there is this prince, named Hamlet. His father gets murdered by Hamlet's uncle and said uncle marries Hamlet's mother, the queen. The man becomes the king and quickly everyone forgets about Hamlet's father, the previous good king. However, the prince sees his father's ghost, who tells him about the murder. Hamlet seriously reflects about life and life after death. This is the most interesting part for me in this book. If I had to be honest, it's the only thing in 'Hamlet' that truly interests me."

Harry looked at the man. His face was frowned, eyes searching for something invisible out of the window. The man shook his head slightly and continued his speech.

"You know, before I died I used to believe in Hell and Heaven. I thought that if you did what you thought was right, you'd go to Heaven, and if you did wrong things you'd go to Hell. Honestly, I was positive I'd go to Heaven. After all I was cleaning the world, wasn't I?" This wasn't a question. "But, you see, the day I met you, something went wrong. I died and I didn't die at the same time. My body was dead, yet my soul was not. I was sure I'd go to Hell or Heaven, that my time has come. But nothing happened. I was floating in nothingness. There was no sound, no sight, no warmth… It was empty. I cannot describe the feeling of a total emptiness." Tom's face was sad and pained, when he remembered the feelings he had felt. "Then I saw… Well, I don't really know what it was. Like a ball made of pure light, I don't remember much, just the warmth it gave me. Then I was back in our world. I could attach my soul to other bodies, like animals, then people. I was growing stronger. Then, one year ago, I finally got my own body back. You witnessed it." Tom paused, some thoughts occupying his mind. "From that time, I have read some books about life after death. But believe me, nothing is even near the truth. And nothing will ever be." Tom finished quietly and looked out of the window. Harry didn't know what to say. Hesitantly he put one hand on Tom's shoulder. Tom looked at the boy and smiled sadly. At least he had managed to come back to life and that was quite an achievement.

* * *


	7. Surprises and so much more

_Sorry for such a long wait. This chapter's a little longer and I've got an idea for the next chapter already, so I guess I'll have updated before the next Sunday (as I'll be away from home... AND Internet... the following weekend). Anyways, enjoy _

_Ideas by me and Katze._

* * *

**7. Surprises and so much more…**

* * *

After DADA classes Tom was accompanying Harry to dungeons where he was to have advanced Potions (it was essential in order to become an auror). Neither of them said anything after what Tom had told the boy about his death. Harry was confused. So Tom came back from the other side? It seemed unrealistic, but, well, magic was unrealistic as well, wasn't it? The boy kept glancing at the older man, wondering what Tom could be thinking of. Harry had had no idea that Tom carried such thoughts inside. Sure, he deserved it, he deserved so much more punishment for all the bad things he had done, but yet, the man seemed to have changed. He wasn't behaving psycho, he wasn't trying to conquer the world, he wasn't killing anyone and, for Merlin's sake, he had a _nose_. Tom just seemed so different from the Lord Voldemort Harry had known. Maybe Harry hadn't known the true Voldemort? After all he was a human being; he had done what he had believed in, he just had given in to the dark power. Also Tom's points of agreement were logical and none of them involved killing or discriminating. Harry decided that for now he would just observe the man and hope that after some time he would see which side was real – Tom's or Voldemort's.

When they got to the dungeons, Tom was about to leave when someone bumped into him. He looked at the figure and realized it was Lucious Malfoy.

"Malfoy" said Tom and looked coldly at the man, who straightened his own clothes.

"My lord" answered the man and bowed slightly. It was quite amusing for the students to see Draco's father bow to their teacher.

"Would you explain me what are you doing here instead of doing what I've asked you to?" Tom glared at the blond.

"Yes, well…" he cleared his throat. "I've already done what you've asked me to do. Here" the man said and gave Tom a small sack. "The rest of the gold is back in your account at Gringotts."

"Well done" Tom said putting the sack into his pocket. "Now, what were you doing in the dungeons?" he asked.

"I was with Severus" the man explained however he saw that it didn't satisfy Tom, so he continued. "We were doing some… research."

Tom looked at him and smirked knowingly. He knew very well what kind of 'research' they were doing. He only hoped Narcissia didn't take a part in it, because that would be just too much. He nodded his head, allowing the man to go away. Lucious bowed slightly again and turned his back. He was about to leave when his look rested on his son. Draco was standing there saying some sly remarks to Hermione and Ron. Draco felt the look on himself and looked at his father. When their eyes met, the boy blushed furiously. Ron followed Draco's sight and his face also flushed. Harry looked at this scene astonished. He heard Tom snicker next to him, so he glanced at the man, his eyes saying '_Why are they doing that? What happened?_". Tom just "shook his head, telling the boy he would explain this to him later. Harry shrugged it off. Malfoy senior had already left the dungeons, Draco and Ron were still slightly blushing, not looking at each other. Harry was eager to hear the story from Tom. Riddle patted Harry on the head and left without any more words.

The classes soon began. Double Potions weren't something Harry truly enjoyed, however he could stand them now, since he had spent most of his holidays preparing for the school year. He had decided that he wanted to be an auror and to achieve that he had to be a good student. It was almost like a Christmas present for Hermione, who was delighted by this.

Snape entered the classroom, his hair dangerously dishevelled. The students stared at him dumbfounded. Snape could have greasy hair. It was okay. But now he had it completely chaotic! His hairs were sticking in all directions, making him look like a scarecrow. No one even dared to think what he had done to get them in such a state, although Harry had a feeling that Tom knew the reason perfectly. Professor tried to put his hair back to normal state using his fingers, but he failed. He growled and looked at the students. No one dared to look him in the eye. It's not necessary to say that Harry hadn't seen Snape more snappish since the events from his 3rd year.

* * *

Straight after classes Harry went to supper with Hermione and Ron. The red headed kept glancing all the time at Draco, who was sitting at Slytherin table, his head down. Ron was seriously worried, but Harry didn't feel comfortable enough to ask him about their relationship at Gryffindor table in front of everyone. So the supper was over and no one had said anything up till then. Harry stood from the table, excused himself and went to his and Tom's room. He was exhausted after the day, it was very busy and he was curious of what had happened between Ron, Draco and Draco's father.

When Harry entered the room Tom was lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling. The man glanced at him and beckoned him with his hand. Tom lazily stretched and sat on the sofa. The raven haired walked up and sat next to him. The silence fell.

"Tired?" asked Tom after a moment.

"Yeah, exhausted" replied the boy. "Um… and… erm… how was your day?"

Tom gave him a meaningful look and sighed.

"Those students are just completely out of it. The first-years wouldn't even say a single word during my classes and Weasley twins wouldn't stop blowing things up. I could stand these Ravenclaw girls, at least they weren't afraid to talk, but they wouldn't stop giggling and squealing each and every time I looked at them" he complained lively gesticulating with his hands. He sighed once more and put his hand to his forehead in a theatrical way. The boy snorted. And then again the silence fell. "Anything interesting happened today?"

Harry wondered trying to remember the past events.

"Oh, yeah, surprisingly Snape wasn't mean to me…" he stopped. "It was your job!" It was Tom's turn to snort.

"Well, did you honestly think that he would treat you the same way as before? Of course not" He smirked. "You're the Dark Lord's husband now after all, are you not…?"

The boy flushed and hesitantly nodded his head.

"Um… You promised me you'd tell me about Ron and Draco… What happened?"

Tom smirked.

* * *

_"My lord…?" a voice sounded behind him. It was Lucious Malfoy. _

_"Don't. Even. Ask." Tom hissed, not looking at the other man. "Or I'll tear every single inch of that pitiful body of yours, limb after limb." _

_No answer came. _

_Tom sighed. _

_"Do you happen to know whether every boy these days is so…abstemious?" he asked frowning. _

_Lucious was surprised. The Dark Lord was asking him such a question? This world was coming to an end. _

_"Well… I'm not sure… I don't think that Draco is abstemious at all." He answered and added in his mind: 'Whatever it means.' _

_Tom stood up. _

_"Lead me to your son's chamber" he demanded. _

_"My lord, it's 2 in the morning. I suppose he is sleeping now." _

_"Do I look like I care? GO." _

_Malfoy nodded his head and leaded Tom to Draco's room. When they were in front of the door he knocked slightly and opened it. What he saw there made him gasp and stand dumbfounded. Tom smirked. _

_"Mhm… You like it, don't you…?" Draco asked Ron in a seductive voice, who was lying underneath him with his hands handcuffed to the head of the bed. Draco was sitting on him and straddling him. Both boys were shirtless. The blond was leaning down to kiss the red haired when he heard the gasp. He turned his head slowly into the door's direction, a bad feeling already in his gut. And then he also gasped. _

_"Father…?" _

_

* * *

_

"Let's say Lucious found out something he shouldn't have about Draco and your red haired friend. Obviously he shouldn't have entered his son's bedroom that night…"

"What do you mean by that?" The boy asked. Tom looked at him slantingly, wondering whether the boy really didn't get what he said or he was just playing dumb.

"Well…" he slowly neared the boy and then suddenly pinned him to the couch. "I can show you, if you insist…"

Harry made a surprised face finally understanding. Tom backed away.

"No way… You mean they were having…?"

Tom nodded and started laughing because of the sight of Harry's shocked face. The younger boy blushed seeing that even Lord Voldemort could laugh so freely and carelessly sometimes.

"I guess you could call it their 'Oh-shit-moment'" Tom added and laughed even more. Harry soon joined the laughing. Suddenly Tom stopped laughing and reached into his pocked. He took out the sacked he had been given by Lucious and looked seriously at the boy. He pulled something out of it.

"I couldn't get them before the wedding, so…" Tom took Harry's left hand and slowly put a ring onto his finger. He let go of the hand and the young wizard looked at the ring he had been given. It was wide and made of white gold. It had an engraved line writhing around. An emerald was shimmering in the centre of it.

"Wow… It's… beautiful" Harry said in awe.

"Thought you'd like it" Tom said and took Harry's other hand. He put another ring into it and held his own left hand expectantly. The boy flushed and with trembling hands put the other ring on Tom's finger. Tom seemed extremely pleased with this. He slowly entangled their fingers together pulling their faces closer and closer. This time the young wizard didn't resist, he seemed too enchanted with the situation. Their lips were just inches apart…

A sound of doors opening quickly and loudly was heard.

The boys parted instantly and looked at the door. There stood Lucious Malfoy, heaving slightly, trying to regain his posture.

"M-my lord, I need to tell you something…" he started.

Tom leaned his head down, so that his hair was covering his eyes. He began trembling with silent anger. Harry slowly backed away and silently went into the bathroom.

The second Harry closed the door behind himself Tom stood up and walked up to Lucious, his wand pointing at Malfoy's throat.

"You seem to have a peculiar talent of showing up in the most inappropriate moments…" hissed Tom and put his wand closer to the man's throat. "You'd better have a good excuse this time."

"Y-yes, my l-lord" stuttered Lucious and let his breath out when Tom took away his wand. The Dark Lord kept glaring at him.

"I'm waiting."

"Y-yes" Malfoy cleared his throat and his face became serious. "Some Death Eaters have separated from us and started a rebellion. They might cause some problems, we should contact the Ministry about it, otherwise Fudge will think we're behind it."

Tom remained silent for a moment and then he headed to the chimney without a word. He took some flu powder and threw it into the flames. They changed to green and he stepped into them. Lucious waited impatiently.

After few minutes Tom was back, an angry grimace on his face.

"How did it go?" the blond asked and Tom snorted.

"Fudge thinks it's my fault and that I should take responsibility for it… How many are there?" he asked sitting on the couch.

"I know only few by name, but surely there are more. Bellatrix is the leader of the rebellion" Tom snickered hearing this. It was obvious the wicked woman would do such a thing. She was always crazy and totally in love with him. Bad for her, Tom was not in love with her. "There are also the Lestrange brothers, Avery, Dolohov, Greyback, Macnair and Travers. And, to my surprise, Pettigrew is one of them as well."

Tom growled. Pettigrew was a coward like no one else; he always followed the strongest ones believing they would defend him. Bellatrix must have had an ace hidden in her sleeve if he had followed her. This wasn't forecasting anything good.

"You may leave now" Tom said and turned his back to the man. Malfoy bowed and left the room. Riddle sighed and cast a locking spell on the door. He didn't want any more intruders that night. He took his sweatshirt off, laid it on the backrest of the couch and went to the bathroom. When he entered Harry was already dressed in pyjamas and gathering clothes from the floor.

"Um… What did Lucious want?" Harry asked straightening his pyjamas.

"Oh, nothing important" Tom lied without a blink of an eye. "Don't bother yourself with him. He just likes to interrupt _things_" he said and smirked.

"Oh… well, then… I'll be waiting in the bedroom" the boy said and slipped out of the washroom.

Tom cracked an eyebrow. _Waiting_? He snickered. If the boy only had in mind what he thought about… Sighing he unscrewed some of the water-taps and crystal clear water poured into the giant bath. It smelled of rosemary and mint. Tom slowly took his clothes off and put them in a neat pile next to the bath. He slid into the water enjoying the warmth. He sat on the bottom and rested his head on the edge pad. Some Death Eaters have started a rebellion. This wasn't good. Only two days after the wedding and there were problems already. Of course the Ministry would blame him and accuse of some sort of conspiracy. He would have to deal with the traitors before they do something bad. He growled and put his hand to his forehead. This was making his head hurt. Then he saw the ring on his finger. It was reflecting the candle light and the stone was shimmering slightly. It was almost the same as Harry's, but was wider and the emerald was bigger. Then Tom remembered about the boy 'waiting' for him in the bedroom. He smiled slightly. He didn't have to worry about the Death Eaters for now. They wouldn't strike so fast. He could enjoy the normal life for now, as normal as it could be. And his husband was 'waiting' for him. He would have time to worry about things later on.

Riddle went out of the bath and wiped himself with a towel. He put his bottom pyjamas on and left the washroom. The dirty clothes flew by themselves to the laundry basket. He leisurely went into the master-bedroom. Harry was sitting on the bed, his back facing the door. Tom rested himself on the door frame and asked:

"Were you waiting?"

The boy turned his head around and faced the man. He slowly nodded and moved his legs onto the bed. Tom walked to the bed and bended down.

"What about a goodnight kiss?" he asked and smirked. The young wizard flushed and Tom caught the boy's chin. He lifted it up a little bit and pecked him on the cheek. "Goodnight then" he said and started walking away.

"Wait, Tom!" Harry exclaimed. Tom turned his head around and cracked an eyebrow, as in asking what the boy wanted from him. The raven haired looked away, trying hard not to blush as he said: "You… don't have to sleep on the couch tonight. You can sleep here… with me."

Tom slowly turned around. He didn't expect such a thing. Smiling he neared the boy, crawled onto the bed and slid under the covers.

"If you insist" he said and cast a spell turning the lights off.

"G-goodnight" Harry said.

"Goodnight…" Tom whispered into the boy's ear. He didn't see whether the younger one blushed or not, but he did know that they both would sleep peacefully that night.

* * *

The sun was shining through the light-green curtains tinting everything in the room in the shades of verdure. It didn't take long for Harry to notice the light and slowly wake up. It was warm… It was comfortable… Yet he had to wake up and go to classes. His first class that day was Transfiguration with McGonagall. He knew that if he was late the teacher would get really angry with him, so he sighed and tried to get up, but something firm and warm was holding him down. He opened his eyes and firstly he had no idea what he was looking at. It was kind of cream-colored, nice in touch, warm and smelled of mint and rosemary. He put his head a little bit higher so he could see the weird thing from a distant. Then he realized what it was.

He was lying on Tom, who was holding him with his arms around his waist in a similar way as the previous night. Harry started wresting a little, trying to get out from the grip and not to wake up the man. However, after some time he gave up and called Tom's name. Riddle growled.

"What?" he muttered without opening his eyes.

"It's late, Tom, we need to get up or we'll be late for classes!" Harry exclaimed and tried to get out again.

"I don't have classes till afternoon" the man replied muttering again and held the boy closer. Harry yelped but didn't give up.

"But I do! Let me go!"

"No, I don't want to."

"Tom! I have to go!"

"You don't _have_ to."

"Okay, I _want_ to go."

"But _I_ don't want you to go."

"Tom!" Harry exclaimed being unnerved by the whole situation. The man sighed finally opening his eyes.

"Fine…" he said but didn't let go. The boy looked inquiringly at him. "…under one condition."

"Y-yeah?"

"Kiss me." Harry looked dumbfounded at the man. "What? Haven't you heard of good-morning kisses?" Tom asked and smirked.

"O-of course I have!"

"Mhm… I'm waiting."

The young wizard looked at the Dark Lord underneath him and sighed. He leaned down and placed a kiss on Tom's cheek. Then suddenly Tom moved his one hand to Harry's neck holding him down and he kissed the boy on the lips, while his other hand wandered onto the boy's buttocks. The raven haired yelped and Tom let go of him, laughing.

"You may go now" Riddle laughed looking at the boy, who was still straddling him. Harry flushed and hurriedly got out of the bed almost tripping on the way out to the door. He grabbed some clothes and his school-bag on the way out of the room. He ran into the bathroom, brushed his teeth, changed into normal clothes and ran out of the washroom. He pushed the doors to get out, but they didn't move. He tried to open them again. They still didn't move. He cast an Alohomora, but it didn't help at all.

"Tom!" he shouted and stormed back into the bedroom where Tom was still lying in the bed.

"What now?" the man muttered lazily cracking his one eye open.

"The door! It won't open!" Harry complained. The older wizard growled, reached for his wand and cast some spell. He muttered something more, but Harry was already out of their rooms running to Transfiguration classroom. He was positive the classes had started already.

When the boy got to the classroom the lessons had indeed started already. He hesitantly knocked on the door and entered the room. McGonagall stopped her rant about something and glanced at him. She nodded her head in the direction of his seat, next to Ron and Hermione. With head down Harry headed towards his desk.

"Oh, were making up the wedding night _activities_ with your husband, eh, _Potter-Riddle_?" a whisper was heard from the side. It was Draco Malfoy, who was sitting by the desk next to the golden trio's. Harry just gave him a death glare and remarked:

"I'm glad that at least you had some_fun_ on the wedding night, Malfoy. The look on your father's face must have been priceless." Harry said and sat, looking neither at Draco nor at Ron, both of them blushing.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, already informed about the unfortunate night.

"Mr. Potter" said professor McGonagall in the same time. "Whatever the reason for you being late might be, you oughtn't to come late to my class. You'll write a three feet long essay about incidents during transfigurations, famous samples included and the reasons causing them. You might include being late to classes and not hearing the proper instructions. Don't oversleep next time."

"Yes, ma'am" the boy replied obediently and stopped himself from saying that he had not overslept and that it was Tom's fault. Well, blaming your belatedness on the Dark Lord? That would be surely pretty amusing.

* * *

Yet another day passed quickly for Harry Potter. He had just finished supper with Hermione and Ron and was walking with them out of the Great Hall. He spotted Draco Malfoy. When they neared him Weasley twins appeared.

"Hello there, rat-face" said one of them, probably Fred.

"What sneaky plans…" said the other.

"…are you plotting now?" continued the first one.

"Surely you're not…"

"…imagining screwing…"

"…with our little Ronnie-kins…"

"…are you?"

"You little…"

"…filthy…"

"…disgusting…"

"…hideous…"

"…ferret!"

"Leave him alone!"

George and Fred looked surprised at their brother, who was red with anger. He stood between them and Draco.

"What?" the twins asked in union.

"That bastard made you gay!" shouted George.

"He seduced you using that filthy body of his!"

"He had no right to do so…!"

"HE DID NOT!" Ron shouted with closed eyes. He caught Draco around the waist, holding him close. The young Slytherin flushed, tried to get away, but gave up quickly instead leaning into the protective arms. "It was _my_ choice. It was _my _decision. Don't you even _dare_ to harass him furthermore."

Students were gathering around them, gaping at the scene the four boys presented. Then a sound of throat being cleared was heard.

"I assume this is not the best way to come out of the closet, my boys" Dumbledore said walking past the crowd of the students. "Ten points from Gryffindor for harassment…" he said looking at the twins. They tried to oppose, but seeing the look the headmaster was giving them they resigned. "…and ten points to Gryffindor for defending other people, Mr. Weasley" he added looking at Ron, who was still holding Draco in his arms. "Anyways, young lads…" the old wizard looked again at the read headed twins. "…don't you think it's kind of hypocritical of you?"

That said he left the hall. The crowd started spreading and soon left the three Weasley brothers, Draco, Harry and Hermione by themselves.

"Ron…" Fred started.

"…we're sorry." George ended.

"You're serious about that guy, aren't you?" asked the first twin. Ron nodded his head and held Draco closer. The blond made a face feeling embarrassed and his face into the read headed boy's chest.

"Apologies accepted" said the youngest Weasley boy and smiled at his brothers. "But… what was hypocritical about this?"

The twins looked at each other and snickered.

"Not. Your. Business!" they exclaimed together and ran away. Draco, Ron and Hermione cracked their eyebrows and made surprised faces. Harry only smiled slightly and moved on. Well, this day was surely full of surprises.

* * *


	8. The story of a weasel and a ferret

_Yay! A chapter in one day! x3 -dies happily- Since I won't be able to be on the Net from tomorrow till Friday I wanted to write a chapter before I leave x3 It turned out to be quite long (I thought it would be like 1k words __but it turned out to be 4k words! x3) Well, enjoy the chapter and inform me of all the mistakes, as I've only checked it once, because it's already late and I have to do my homework before going in the mountains... Yay me and my laziness xD Have fun!_

* * *

**8. The story of a weasel and a ferret, troublesome homework & surprises yet again**

* * *

"I _loathe_ your family" said Draco and made a resentful face.

"But you _love _me" Ron said and smiled under his nose. "Aw, come on, they did apologize. You're fussing without any specific reason, because you just want me to pity and comfort you, admit it already" said Ron and went back to doing his Potion's homework. The blond snorted.

Both boys were sitting in the far end of the library, where not many students dared to go to. Thanks to their marvellous coming out of the closet, probably the whole Hogwarts knew already about them, so they hid in the deserted end of the library in hope of having some peace.

"And besides, what are they still doing in Hogwarts?" asked Draco. "They should have finished their education one year ago and if not, they ran out of the school during the 'let's have some fun of Umbridge' event."

Ron murmured something while writing on his scroll, then sighed and looked up at his lover.

"As for Fred and George, their flight was exactly the reason they had to stay at Hogwarts for one more year" he explained and went back to writing his homework. "So the next year you'll be free, no more Weasley twins for you."

Draco didn't say anything. Their relationship was very confusing for him. They were like fire and water, like yin and yang. There wasn't much they had in common besides the hatred they used to feel when seeing each other. Young Slytherin couldn't name what he liked in Ron. He wasn't handsome, he wasn't as intelligent as Granger, he had different interests than Draco… Well, he was just Ron and that confused the blond. There wasn't anything special in the boy that he liked, well, maybe except the dark chocolate eyes… and the warm feeling he had when Ron held him in his arms… and even his goofiness sometimes… There wasn't anything special he loved about the boy, he just simply loved Ron Weasley, to his true horror. He was scared of losing him, he was scared that he was just played with or that he'd wake up and realize this was just a dream.

On the other hand their relationship was very clear to Ronald Weasley. He loved the sly Slythering, even though it had been a huge surprise to him, and it was enough for him. Now he couldn't understand how he could have lived without holding, kissing, hugging and just simply talking with Draco. He felt safe having the boy near him and every time Draco wasn't around he kept worrying that something might have happened to the blond, so each time he saw him it was hard for the red haired not to kiss him senseless in front of all the students. And thanks to their marvellous coming out, he maybe - just maybe, mind you – would be able to do that. That is, only if Draco approved and this was highly doubtful.

"You know…" Ron started while rolling his scroll up. "You're always behaving like this when you want me to comfort you" he said and smiled looking straight into Draco eyes. The boy blushed and looked away.

"That's… not true" he opposed. Ron only smiled wider and his thoughts wandered to that fateful night back in their 4th year…

* * *

_'…shit, Filch's gonna catch me!' Ron thought as he ran through the school hallways. He could hear the caretaker's footsteps behind him, getting closer and closer. He turned left to some other corridor while looking behind. He did not see anyone yet, still, he was sure Filch was near. _

_Then he bumped into something… something blonde. _

_"Ouch! Watch where you're going, weasel!" shouted Draco Malfoy, straightening his own robes. _

_"Shut up!" shouted Ron and glanced behind himself. The footsteps were getting closer. He caught the Sligherin boy by his wrist and dragged him in the direction from which Draco had come. _

_"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Malfoy shouted and torn his hand away. "Snape's over there!" This time the blond caught Ron's hand and dragged him in the direction from which Ron had come. _

_"And what are _you_ doing?!" this time Weasley shouted and torn his had away. "Filch is coming from there! I don't wanna get caught by him!" _

_They both kept dragging like that into the two directions until the footsteps were easily heard. They stopped and looked at each other. Then they spotted a door that hadn't been there before. Without much though they opened the door and ran inside. Ron closed the door behind them. _

_"Oh, it's you" Snape's cold voice was heard. "I thought I heard some rats wandering through these hallways." _

_"Professor" Filch said, snorted and walked away. Draco and Ron held their breaths, but they let them out when they heard Snape's footsteps fading away. _

_"Wow, that was close" said Ron. He glanced at the bond boy, who was glaring at him. "Um… I think it's safe now." _

_The red-headed tried to open the door, but they didn't even budge. _

_"Oh, for crying out loud… move it, weasel" said Draco and pushed the Gryffindor away. He pushed the door, it still didn't move. He tried Alohomora spell, but it didn't help at all. For a second he was silent and then he started hitting the door with his fists. _

_Ron looked at the other boy. He was obviously starting to panic. After some time he gave up hitting the door, turned his back to the wall and sat down. _

_"Ugh… Malfoy…?" asked Ron hesitantly. _

_"Shut the hell up, Weasley" Draco snapped. "Have you ever heard of claustrophobia? Oh course not!" _

_The blond pulled his knees closer to his chest and hid his head between them. Ron was short on words. He had no idea what to do. He didn't want to spend the night with the Slytherin, but it looked like he had no other choice. At least he hoped that someone would find them the next morning. If not, they were going to be in serious trouble… Weasley silently sat next to the blond boy. _

_"Ya know… Don't worry… It could've been worse… I mean, well, ya know, we could have been caught… And now the worst that can happen to us is spendin' some time together, however ironical this may seem to ya…" Ron said, trying to somewhat cheer the other boy up. _

_"Don't worry?! The bloody hell, we could be stuck like this for the whole eternity! In this small room! And I'm with you, from all of the people! Don't you even dare to talk to me!" Draco shouted and jumped onto his feet. He started hitting the door again. "Help! Someone! Help! Open the fucking door!" he kept shouting. _

_Ron didn't know what to do. He only knew that if this continued like this some teacher would hear them and they would be screwed up. _

_"Shush…" he said in a quiet voice and hugged Draco from behind. No one knew which boy was more surprised by this – Ron or Draco. However, the blond couldn't stand the pressure anymore and some disobedient tears ran away from his eyes. He started weeping silently. "It's okay… everythin' will be fine…" Ron continued to whisper silently trying to calm the other boy down. Draco turned around and hid his face into Ron's chest. They both sat again, Draco still keeping his face in Ron's chest. _

_"I-it's… c-cold…" Draco mumbled when he stopped weeping. _

_"Yeah, I know…" whispered Ron, holding Draco closer. Soon the both of them faded to sleep. _

_

* * *

_

_Ron woke up when he heard the sound of doors unlocking. When he opened his eyes he had no idea where he was. He looked around and spotted something warm and blond in his lap. Then he was dumbfounded. _

_Draco Malfoy was sitting sideways in his lap, his arms around Ron's neck, his head lying on Ron's chest. Ron's first reaction was to think 'Oh my fuckin' God! Malfoy?! What the hell is _he_ doin' on me?! Eew!' He tried to get out from under the boy not waking him up, but it was pointless. Then Draco started wriggling in his lap, stretched himself and purred slightly. This all made Ron's face flush horribly. _

_The young Slytherin opened his eyes leisurely and looked into Ron's ones. Then realization fell onto him. _

_"Eek!" Draco shrieked. _

_Both boys tried to get away at the same time, the effect of that being exactly the contradiction of what they had wanted to do. They entangled together making it impossible for any of them to get away. They struggled more trying to get up, but they only landed back onto the floor, Draco on top of Ron. _

_"Ouch…" Ron groaned but something warm stopped any more words to escape from this mouth. He opened his eyes only to see the face of Draco Malfoy, who was kissing him with his eyes closed. Then the icy blue eyes opened, shock clear in them. The blond instantly jumped away not looking at the red haired. _

_"Don't you dare to tell anyone about this!" Draco exclaimed, opened the doors and run out of the room leaving Ron lying on the floor, thunderstruck. The Gryffindor slowly stood up and went out of the room. Just when he left the room the doors disappeared, but he didn't notice that. He was too stunned with the kiss. This was surely something he would not forget. _

_

* * *

_

_It was indeed hard for Ron to forget about the kiss. Whenever he saw the blond Slytherin he thought about it. During classes he couldn't concentrate on what the teachers were talking about, he thought about the kiss. He was easily distracted from whatever he was doing. Soon Hermione and Harry noticed that. _

_"Ron… What's gotten into you lately?" asked Harry. (Ron was on an antagonistic path with Hermione that time.) _

_"Huh? Nothin', mate, there ain't anythin' wrong. Why?" Ron replied with his eyes focused on some spot on the wall. _

_"Ugh… Well, you seem… distracted." Harry said hesitantly. He had many things on his shoulders, like the tournament, but he was still worried about his friends. He just assumed that Ron was sad because Hermione was angry with him. "Does it have something to do with Hermione?" _

_"What? No! Why would I bother with her? She's got that lame excuse for a cat of hers" Weasley replied and finally looked at his friend. Harry eyes were tired and worried. The red-head smiled gently. "Don't worry, mate. I'm fine. Ya'd better worry 'bout yourself, ya look like a nightmare! Get some sleep, mate, I'm gonna get somethin' from the library. Cannot do the freakin' Potion's homework, ya see." _

_Ron smiled once more and left the Gryffindor's main room. The truth was he didn't want to tell Harry about the fateful kiss that was meddling with his head. Harry had enough to worry already and this was surely something Ron didn't want the raven haired to know. _

_Ron slid into the library. There weren't many students there, as it was Saturday evening. He spotted Hermione somewhere in the corner. She was reading some book while petting her cat, which was sitting on her lap. He winced. How the hell had she managed to get that freaked animal into the library?! He sighed and headed to the other end of the library. No one was around, so he sat on a chair and started thinking yet again about the kiss. It was sure that Draco wasn't a girl. So why had he enjoyed the kiss? He wasn't sure, but he knew that it had felt nice. Draco had narrow lips, yet they were soft and warm. The blond smelled of… he wouldn't bet on it, but it was like Abercrombie and Fitch's perfume Cologne 41. The scent was familiar for him because once his uncle from United States, who visited them some time ago, used the same kind of perfume. It was fresh and energizing, which somehow matched with the sly Slytherin. _

_Suddenly Ron heard some footsteps. He stood up and looked in the direction from which the sound was coming. Soon he saw Draco Malfoy walking along the bookshelves looking for some book. Then the blond spotted him and turned around to walk away. _

_"Wait!" Ron exclaimed and caught the boy by his wrist. _

_"Let go of me, weasel!" shouted Draco and tried to get away. Ron, seeing his, pinned him to the bookshelf with all his body. _

_"Listen to me!" The blond looked at Ron's face. It was serious. "I…" Ron started. "I cannot forget the kiss. I have no idea why, but I keep thinkin' about it all the time, I cannot concentrate on anythin'… I… I don't know what to do! I don't even know why I'm telling you this, but I cannot stand this anymore…!" _

_Draco blushed. _

_"Oh, shut the hell up" the blond said and pushed the other boy away, but Ron caught him yet again. They started struggling and yet again they ended up at the floor, this time Ron on top of Draco, pinning him to the ground. _

_When they opened their eyes the red haired leaned down and placed a delicate kiss on Malfoy's lips. Draco didn't resist and put his arms around Ron's neck, pulling the other boy closer. Soon they had to break the kiss. Ron smiled apologetically looking down at the blond. Draco blushed and looked away. _

_"What am I going to do with you now?" growled the blond and looked at the red head, who smiled wider. _

_"Glad ya liked it." _

_After some time they left the library arm in arm. They closed the doors behind them. _

_"Um… what now?" asked Draco and glanced at Ron. Weasley only smiled and turned his back to the Slytherin. _

_"Oh, God! Look, a dead bat's flyin'!" Weasley exclaimed and pointed at something in front of him. Draco intrigued looked by Ron's shoulder but saw nothing. _

_"Hm? Where?" asked Draco. _

_Then the red head turned around and kissed him lightly on the lips. Draco made a surprised face and backed away. Weasley smiled like his older brothers, Fred and George, used to smile when they pulled a good prank, and tried to run away. That moment Draco caught him by his tie and pulled his head down, kissing him hard. It was Ron's turn to make a surprised face. _

_"You're mine now, remember that" said Draco, turned around and walked away. Ron smiled. It would be hard to forget that. _

_

* * *

_

"What are you smiling at?" Draco asked Ron, poking him on the arm.

"Eh? Ah… I was just remembering our second kiss" answered the Gryffindor and smiled. Draco looked at him and then at a bookshelf that stood next to their table.

"Heh… You sure remember useless stuff" said the blond, although he didn't truly think of it as a useless stuff. He, too, remembered it very well.

"Whatever you say" replied the red haired and pulled the other for a kiss.

* * *

Harry was sitting on a chair next to a table in his and Tom's living room. He had already spent one hour doing the homework McGonagall had given him. The topic might have seemed easy, but when it came to writing it down, it was one hell of dates, names and incidents. He had finally finished writing it and was proud of it. He bended down so that he could read the text once more and find the possible mistakes.

He felt a shiver run down his spine and turned his head around only to see Tom's face inches away from his. Before he could stand, Tom's left arm reached around his waist holding him down to the chair. The other one took his homework and Tom started reading.

"What are you…?" Harry asked.

"Shush" replied Tom and laid his chin on the boy's shoulder. He kept reading, while his left hand started undoing Harry's shirt buttons. The boy struggled, but was held firmly. After having undone all the buttons Tom's hand started wandering around Harry's abdomen and chest. The younger wizard started shivering a little and closed his eyes, enjoying the attention. Then the hand and the weight suddenly disappeared.

"Wha…?" escaped the boy's mouth as he turned his head around and saw Tom taking his quill and writing something on the parchment.

"Here, some of the dates and names are wrong. It should be Rutherford instead of Ruserford. And the date should be 1901 not 1900. Then, next, '_Synthesis of the Elements in Stars_' was published in 1957 and written by William Alfred Fowler, Margaret Burbidge, Geoffrey Burbidge, and Fred Hoyle. Hm, and the disaster in Chernobyl wasn't a transfiguration incident…"

Harry growled irritated and stood up. He went past Tom and headed towards the door.

"…you're going somewhere?" asked Tom.

"Yes, I am! Obviously I'm too dumb to do my homework by myself, so I'm gonna ask Hermione to do it for me!" exclaimed Harry not turning around.

"Oh? Don't tell me you're angry at me because I stopped what my left hand was doing… or are you?" Tom asked and smirked, when Harry stopped and blushed.

The man laid the parchment on the table and neared the boy, hugging him from behind.

"You want me to continue…?" he whispered into Harry's ear making the boy shiver.

He nuzzled the raven haired boy's neck and bit it. Then Potter woke up from that state and jumped away, exclaiming Tom's name and holding his hand on the mark on his neck. Tom laughed and walked again to the table.

"This essay isn't half bad. Just correct the mistakes I told you about and it'll be fine" he said and sat on the couch.

The boy walked up to the chair and started re-writing his homework onto new parchment. When he was finished Tom walked up to him and snatched the paper from his hand. Harry made an angry face, but the man didn't seem to care much about it. He read the essay, nodded his head and gave it back.

"Fine, it's okay now. But tell me one thing… Why did you write out of nowhere that… let me see… 'Being late for classes and having not heard the instructions may lead to incidents'?" Tom asked, leaning down next to Harry, resting his bended arm on the table and cracking an eyebrow. The boy's face flushed.

"Um, well, if _someone_ hasn't kept me in bed in the morning I wouldn't have to do the essay at all" Harry retorted and gave Tom a meaningful look. The Dark Lord only laughed a little.

"Oh? Haven't you explained Minerva that you had more interesting things to do than going to her classes?" Tom asked snickering.

The boy blushed but didn't say anything. Instead he threw the parchment into his school-bag and went into the washroom to brush his teeth. Just when he was putting the toothpaste on the toothbrush, Tom entered the bathroom. Harry glared at him.

"Don't mind me" the man said and also put some toothpaste on his own toothbrush. They brushed their teeth like that for some time. Tom spilled the liquid from his mouth and wiped his mouth with a towel.

"I've heard the young Malfoy and Weasley made quite a show today" the man said, glancing at the boy, who giggled slightly. The boy also spilled the liquid and wiped his mouth.

"Yeah… Weasley twins started abusing Draco and telling him that he made Ron gay. Then Ron got so pissed off he started shouting at his brothers. And they kept shouting back" the boy giggled at the memory making Tom smile. "Dumbledore came and took ten points from Gryffindoor for the twins harassing Draco and gave ten points to Gryffindor for Ron protecting him. Didn't change much, did it? I wonder if the old man even noticed this… And the best part is that he said the twins were behaving hypocritical and neither Ron, nor Hermione or Draco got what he had meant." Harry laughed a little and Tom patted him on the head. The boy cracked an eyebrow and turned his head around only to be kissed by the man. He instantly jumped away and the older wizard smirked.

"Too bad they haven't kissed, eh?" he said snickering and left the room.

* * *

Pansy Parkinson was walking through the school corridors. She had heard that the previous day Draco had been seen being hugged by Ronald Weasley, the weasel! She couldn't believe that lies. Her Draco would have never done something like that and with the filthy Gryffindor, from all of the people! She smirked. Those gossips were getting lamer and lamer.

She was just passing the library when she saw something red in front of her. She tip toed to the place where the red haired stood and then she confirmed her thoughts that indeed it was Ronald Weasley.

"Ha! Weasel! Your evil gossips won't trick me! _My_ Draco would have never agreed to be hugged by you!" she shouted at the red head, small group of students staring at the scene. Ron only cracked an eyebrow and smirked.

"Oh, really?" he asked. Then he went up to the girl and fingered her hair. Pansy looked at him speechless and when she saw his eyes half closed she blushed. He leaned closer to her, their lips just inches apart…

"Pansy?!" Draco's voice was heard. Ron let go of the girl lazily and her face flushed even more.

"Well you can't expect me to wait for you forever, Draco! I…" she started jelling at the blond.

"What the bloody hell are you doing to _my_ Ron?" he asked coming closer to them.

Pansy was dumbfounded.

"Aw, come on, I was just having some fun" explained Ron and kissed Draco slightly on the cheek. "She said she didn't believe that we were together." The blond blushed a little.

"And you had to make such a show out of it?" he retorted.

"Aw… Don't tell me you're jealous?" laughed Ron.

"Hmph" Draco snorted, grabbed Ron's hand and started walking away, dragging the red haired with him.

It's not necessary to say that Pansy Parkinson had never been so thunderstruck in her whole life.

* * *


	9. Of motherly solicitude & tough decisions

_Hello after a long time yet again. Sorry for not updating for such a long time, but I hope you'll like the chapter anyways x3 It's not 'beta'd' yet, so if you see any mistakes feel free to note me. The next chapter's gonna be about... yes! Valentine's Day! x3 Don't expect any hardore action yet though, lol. Or maybe... x3 Well, enjoy!_

* * *

**9. Of motherly solicitude & tough decisions**

* * *

It was a peaceful day, even Ron making fun of Pansy and crushing down her whole world hadn't made it a bad one. The golden trio and Draco, who decided that after the famous coming out he could eat meals with Ron, were sitting at Gryffindor table eating dinner. The atmosphere was good. Tom had left that morning earlier than Harry so the boy hadn't been late for his classes. Also the Weasley twins had stopped harassing Draco (well, some teasing was inevitable, right?) and they didn't have Potions that day. There was nothing that could make it a bad, at least they had thought so until a certain red haired woman rushed into the Great Hall.

"Ronald Weasley!" shouted the woman, eyes of every student in the room falling onto her. Ron curled on his chair, knowing all too well what to expect.

"Hello… mom" he said quietly. The woman stormed next to him, her hair in disarray. She looked angrily at her son, it seemed like she hadn't seen Draco yet.

"What's the meaning of this?!" she shouted pointing at some parchment in her hand.

"Um… I don't know…?" Ron replied honestly in a quiet voice.

"I'll tell what this is! I got a letter telling me that you're _going out_ with Draco Malfoy! How could you do this to me and your father?" she screamed, tears starting to fall from her eyes. Ron stood up and walked to her, his head down. He felt guilty and would take this like a man. "From all of the people…!" she wept. "From all of the people…! Why _him_?!" Molly sniffed and wiped the tears off her face using her hand. "Why did you choose that filthy scoundrel?!" Draco winced visibly.

"Mom…" Ron started, but his mother stopped him.

"Don't you dare to interrupt me!" she cried. "It's not even that he's a man. He's a _Malfoy_, for Merlin's sake! Your brothers at least do it with each other, but you had to choose that… that… rascal!" The woman wept loudly and sat on a chair next to Draco. He hesitantly gave her a tissue. She thanked him quietly, still not realizing who he was, and blown her nose out.

"I-I'm sorry… I simply l… wait, what did you say?!" Ron asked suddenly.

"I sa-a-aid t-that he-e's a rasca-a-a-al!"

"No, before that" the boy inquired, frowning his brows.

The woman instantly stopped crying.

"Way to go, mother" said Fred, who was sitting only a few chairs away next to his brother.

"We should announce this…" started George.

"… the '_Weasleys' comin' out of the closet_' week" ended the other twin.

Silence fell in the Great Hall. No one dared to say anything, which was quite an achievement since at least few tens of people were present there.

"Mom… let's go somewhere else" Ron suggested and caught his mother gently by her arm and started dragging her into the door's direction. Draco and the twins followed them, Harry and Hermione stayed on their seats. This was a family affair and they shouldn't witness it. They had seen too much already. They and all of the present students.

* * *

"Sit down" Ron told his mother when they got to the Gryffindor main room. He crouched in front of her and put his hand on hers. He glanced at Draco, telling him with his eyes to come closer. The blond neared them and stood next to Ron. Molly looked up at the boy and grimaced.

"You!" she exclaimed making the boy wince. All Weasley boys sighed.

"Aw, come on, mother…" said George.

"We all know he's a prick, but…"

"…he's not that bad after all."

"Yeah, and it seems that…"

"…at least our Ronnie…"

"…is happy with him" finished both of them.

Molly looked at Draco, whose hand was clenching onto Ron's shoulder. She sniffed, lowered her head and whispered silently:

"Are you?" she asked. Ron glanced at Draco and looked seriously at his mother.

"Yes, I am" he replied. Mrs. Weasley looked up and met her son's eyes.

"Do you love him?"

Draco held his breath. Love was something they didn't discuss. They joked about it, yes, sometimes one would say the L-word during sex, but they had never seriously talked about it. They were happy with each other, happy with how the things were, they had realized their feelings long ago, yet this wasn't something they could just simply say. It had been like that for two years and it seemed it was the moment the truth would be shown.

Ron stood up slowly and grabbed Draco's hand. He looked him in the eye and then looked at his mother, who was watching them. He tightened his grip on Draco's hand, looked once more in the blue eyes and knew the answer. He looked down at his mother.

"Yes, I love him" he said, like it was the easiest thing in the world to say. However, it had taken a lot of courage for him to actually say it. Draco let out the breath he had been holding and squeezed Ron's hand. Those few simple words made his insides curl and warmed him even more than hot chocolate he had drunk with Ron on Christmas Eve. He smiled slightly staring at the floor.

Mrs. Weasley sighed and stood up.

"Mr. Malfoy" she said and the boy looked at her, trying hard not to show any fear, although the woman could easily see through that, she had six sons after all.

"Y-yes?" he asked and slapped himself mentally for stuttering.

"You'd better take good care of Ronald" she said seriously. Draco nodded his head and subconsciously moved closer to the red haired boy. Finally Molly smiled at them. "I give you my blessing" she said and hugged them both at the same time, knocking air from their lungs. When they finally broke out from the death-grip, Ron smiled at his mother and looked at Draco, who also smiled and looked at his lover.

"The hell…"

"…give us a break!" said the twins.

It seemed that everything would be fine for now.

* * *

"Harry, what do you think? Will they be okay?" Hermione asked when they were leaving the Great Hall. It had already passed about fifteen minutes so they believed it would be safe to enter the Gryffindor tower and not be killed by infuriated Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm pretty sure they will" the boy answered. "It's not like the first time they had to defend their relationship. But, bloody hell, Mrs. Weasley sure is scary when she's mad."

"You can say that again." Hermione said and slowed her pace. "Harry… about Fred and George… was it truth?"

Harry looked at her. She had worry in her eyes. He sighed.

"Yeah, it is. I saw their mother when she found that out."

"Oh?"

"Well… after the wedding night…" the boy blushed slightly at the memory of the night and the _things_ Tom had tried to do to him "…when me and Tom went to breakfast we overheard Mrs. Weasley shouting at Dumbledore. Something about him being gay and that it didn't mean that every guy at Hogwarts was gay. And then the twins blushed and looked away, it was quite amusing, I have to add, and she found out" he explained. "Oh, and then she fainted" he added.

"Hm… Poor Mrs. Weasley… finding out that three of her sons are homosexual… And twins together! Oh my…"

They continued their walk in silence. They had gone through the half of the way when Harry spoke.

"Um… how exactly did you find out about Ron and Malfoy?" he asked. Hermione smiled a little.

"Oh, you know… Pretty the same way as Fred and George had."

"That is?" Harry inquired.

"Oh, it was about one year ago… by the way, you hadn't noticed up till the wedding? Oh, Merlin, Harry, you're so slow sometimes…!"

"Just continue" he cut her rant and snorted.

"Ah, okay, yes. So it was about one year ago, I was coming back from the library and I heard some voices. Like, you know, some weird voices, so I was intrigued and wanted to check what that was. When I turned into the corridor that leads to Transfiguration classroom I ran into them. Turned out that they had a make-out session in the hallway" she giggled and laughed when she remembered something. "I swear that the sigh of a shrieking Malfoy is priceless!"

Harry laughed as well. Yes, that surely had to be a big surprise for the guys.

"Um… Harry?" Hermione solicited hesitantly.

"Yeah, 'Mione?"

"How... How are things going with… um… Tom?" she inquired and looked bashfully at Harry's face, which flushed faintly.

"Wha… Erm… Well, it's…" he started stuttering, making her giggle. "Hey!" he exclaimed and poked her arm.

"Okay, okay…!" she chuckled. "It's just… you made such a cute face!" Hermione laughed even more.

"Fine, laugh as much as you want. I won't tell you a damn thing!" he huffed and started walking faster. The girl, chuckling, ran after him.

"All right, I'm sorry" she said, not looking sorry at all. The young wizard sighed.

"We're fine, don't worry about me."

"Hm, that's good to hear. Thought you might have some problems, since, you know…"

"I know." He stopped her. He had to fight his demons on his own; he couldn't stand other people bringing the topic up. It was his problem, which troubled him so much. Yet the only thing he could do was not to think about it. He couldn't change the past and had to live the present.

"So…" Hermione started in a sing-song voice. Harry had a bad feeling.

"Yes…?"

"To which base have you gotten?"

"Hermione!" Harry blushed like hell. She only giggled and started running away. He ran after her cursing Hermione and her will to know everything.

After a few minutes they stopped running and panted heavily.

"Don't you dare to ask such a question ever again!" Harry exclaimed and tickled her. She laughed.

"Yes! Haha…Yes! I won't! Hahaha! I promise!" She said through laughter.

"Okay, tell me tomorrow morning how things between Ron and his mom went, I'm going to my rooms now" he said and waved his hand.

"Goodnight!" she also waved. "Have fun both of you!" She added and ran off. Harry's face reddened but he shrugged it off. Seriously, Hermione was becoming one of those yaoi fan girls.

When he got to his and Tom's rooms, the Dark Lord wasn't there yet. He threw his school bag onto the floor and loosened his tie. Harry lied on the couch stretching his arms, let out a breath and was absorbed into his thoughts.

How were things between him and Tom? Well, he had said it was all fine, but was it really so? Tom was obviously hitting on him or toying with him. Harry didn't know which was it, there were times he was sure it was the first one, there were times he was sure it was the second one. He was getting slowly used to it and it scared him. This was becoming dangerous. It was just so simply comfortable to wake up and feel a warm body next to his, to be embraced like that, to be kissed as a good morning and goodnight. He sighed. Carpe diem, he would just live his life. If something goes wrong he'll have time to worry about it then.

The door to the room opened. Harry closed his eyes and didn't move; somehow he decided it would be better to pretend to be asleep. He heard Tom's footsteps getting closer and some bag being laid down. Harry was sure the man would wake him up or leave him alone. Yet, he was to be surprised once more.

Harry felt a hand touch his cheek delicately. He expected a kiss to come and he was prepared to back away as soon as it came. But it never did. The footsteps were heard as Tom went to a chair next to the table and sat on it, sighing. The boy heard the sound of papers rustling. He cautiously cracked one eye open. Tom was indeed sitting on the chair, leaning down above the table and reading some papers. He had a grimace on his face and was clearly displeased with what he read.

"Tom?" Harry asked quietly. The man looked surprised at him.

"You're awake?" Tom said.

"Yeah…" the boy replied and slowly walked up to the man. "What are you doing?"

The man covered the papers with his hands.

"Oh, this? Don't mind it, it's nothing. Just some papers I have to read and sign."

"Show me" the boy demanded and took one of the pages before Tom could have done anything, in a similar way as Tom had done when reading Harry's homework. The paper was about some of the agreements points. There was a lot written about Death Eaters, conditions for the peace and such. "What's this?" he asked and Tom growled.

"It's nothing, like I said" Tom answered and snatched the page back. He glanced at the boy, who stood with angered face and sighed. "It's from the Ministry. There is still a lot to discuss and the whole policy is killing me. The Ministry insists on dozens of papers, signs and all those useless things" he complained.

"I see…" the young wizard answered and he felt some kind of compassion for the man. It surely wasn't interesting; he knew how the Ministry was. He sat on a chair next to Tom. "Um… You know, I was wondering… What exactly made you want to contract peace?" he avoided Riddle's eyes. "I mean, you had your Death Eaters, the war was on and nothing was foretelling the end of it" he finally looked up at the man, whose eyes were serious.

"It's not that I made the decision in one night" the Dark Lord said. "It had taken me a lot of time before I came to the conclusion that it was quite pointless to continue the war." Harry looked interested at him.

"Really?"

"Yes. After all I had been fighting for my ideals for quite a time, hadn't I? So many years… Yet it brought me nothing, only people on both sides were dieing and I was running short on my subordinates. And besides that the whole experience from the other side had to mean something. Maybe it was a sign I had to try some other methods?" Tom explained lost in his thoughts. Harry stood up and put a hand on his shoulder, surprising the man.

"But it was a good decision" the boy said and smiled.

"Yes, it looks so" he replied and went back to reading the papers. "Just sometimes the Ministry overdoes it."

* * *

_It was the November 1996. Lord Voldemort was in his mansion thinking how the war had been going on so far. It was getting troublesome for both sides. Many Aurors and Death Eaters had died in battles and it was getting them nowhere. He heard the sound of doors opening and growled. _

_"My lord, I've got bad news" Lucious' voice was heard. _

_"What is it?" The Dark Lord asked irritated. _

_"There are some troubles with… Death Eaters." _

_"…" _

_"Two of our men have been killed by Aurors not taking down any of the members of the Order. The situation is getting worse and worse each day and we're starting to run out of people. Even after the flight from Azkaban the number of our people… " _

_"Enough" Voldemort said and stood up from his chair. He walked up to the chimney in which fire was burning. "What about the disobedient ones?" _

_"They quieted down a little after Crucio curse, but they still disobey some of your orders, my lord. They attacked a group of muggles again even though you forbade them." _

_"…" _

_"My lord…" Malfoy started, afraid if he was saying the right thing. "If I may, I suggest that you…" _

_"Silence!" the Dark Lord hissed and Malfoy curled only slightly. He looked at this subordinate, who looked down. He sighed and sat back onto his chair. "You may continue." _

_"Yes, my lord" Malfoy started speaking again hesitantly. "I suggest… that you think of some other way of achieving your goals… The old methods are clearly not working anymore. Maybe…" Lucious swallowed hard and took a deep breath, fearing what the Dark Lord's reaction might be for what he was about to say. "Maybe it's time to… end this." _

_Voldemort didn't say anything. The blond was starting to feel afraid that the Lord hadn't heard him, but then Riddle spoke. _

_"What do you mean by that?" he asked, contemplating the suggestion. _

_"Well… Dumbledore's on his limit as well. The old fool will agree to everything just to bring peace to the world. It might be a good idea to… offer treaty." The Dark Lord sighed. "My lord…" _

_Voldemort stood up from his chair again and walked up to the window. It was already dark outside; neither moon nor stars could be seen on the sky. Tom Riddle thought about the suggestion. It was true in fact, that Dumbledore would do anything to ensure peace. Tom remembered well how the world was during the 2nd World War, when so many people were killed. He didn't want his servants to be bloodthirsty beasts that only longed to kill other people. He wanted to take over the world, yes, but his actions and goals were logical and coherent. If only the Light Side would see it… But those bloody morons just had to take Dumbledore's side! Always blame the revolutionary one, just when he only wanted to make some changes. What if those changes were to be radical ones? What mattered was that Tom was right! He growled. _

_"What is Fudge's attitude towards the war?" Voldemort asked, snapping at the other man. Malfoy cleared his throat and took the Daily Prophet out of his coat. _

_"They have announced the flight from Azkaban and officially admitted that you, my lord, have come back." Lucious explained and gave the newspaper to the Dark Lord. "It looks like the young Potter is being more bothered by them than by us." _

_Voldemort looked at the front page. 'The Boy-Who-Lived Remains Silent! When will the Chosen One defeat The-One-Whose-Name-Should-Not-Be-Said?" The Dark Lord sighed. When will those fools learn?! Next to the article there was a photograph of Harry Potter, who was trying to hide from the cameras and reporters, looking truly embarrassed about the whole situation. Tom Riddle smirked. _

_"Lucious, it may not be a bad idea to change the methods after all" he said and threw the paper into the flames, where it burnt silently. _

_

* * *

_

The time passed by quickly, and before they realized it, it was already 9th February, Friday. Nothing much changed, except for the fact, that now the Weasley twins, instead of selling prank-stuff, were doing fan-service for yaoi fan-girls. Draco and Ron were being open now, even though Draco would blush whenever the red-head hug him in public. Hermione kept writing letters with Crum, Snape was still snappish as ever and Tom never stopped teasing Harry. It turned out to be a daily routine, which was nevertheless very amusing.

"So… Harry" Hermione began when they were sitting in the library doing their homework. "When are you going to get something for Tom?" she asked.

"Huh?" the raven haired lifted his head from his Herbology essay.

"It's Valentine's Day next week" she explained and looked at him meaningfully. The boy looked at her surprised. Somehow he couldn't associate the Dark Lord with fat flying pink cherubs.

"And?" he cracked an eyebrow.

"Well… he is your _husband_. Even if it's political, I guess it's advisable for you to give him something" the boy wanted to oppose but she quickly continued. "Like a chocolate or a card, nothing much."

"Hermione, I really value your will to help, but… I don't really think that…"

"Come on, mate" Ron cut into the sentence. "Ya know she's right."

"…Potter, I must admit, that indeed the girl is telling the truth" said Draco, who was sitting next to Ron, leaning slightly on the red-head.

"…" Harry didn't say anything and honestly started considering the suggestion. He had no idea if he felt something for the man, yet they were right, he ought to get him something. He sighed and went back to doing his homework. "Fine. But you're going with me to Hogsmeade tomorrow."

"Sure thing" Ron replied and smiled broadly to Draco, who also went back to doing his homework, which only a little worsened Ron's mood. Hermione rolled her eyes and went to the bookcase to find another book about the effect of lizard's tail combined with dragon's blood on poisoned rats. Like that would _ever_ be useful for them…

* * *

The next morning Harry woke up earlier, so that his disappearance wouldn't be noticed by Tom. He had asked Dobby to show up in their bedroom at 6:30 AM (as Tom woke up at 7). And, indeed, Dobby did show up.

A loud popping sound was heard and Harry woke up suddenly. Yet again, he was lying on Riddle, but he had gotten used to it. He nervously looked around, saw the house elf and then hastily looked at Tom's face. He sighed; thankfully the man hadn't woken up. He carefully untangled himself from the Dark Lord's arms and sneaked out of the bed. He silently thanked Dobby for the waking up and instructed him, that if the elf was asked such a thing again, he should be more… quiet. Hearing such words from the boy's mouth, the house elf grabbed the leg of the bed and wanted to slam his head into it. Potter quickly stopped him and dismissed the house elf. He reached for his glasses, which were lying on the cabinet. Then suddenly a hand grabbed his arm and pulled back onto the bed.

"Going somewhere?" murmured Tom into the boy's ear, which made him shiver.

"Um… Erm… W-Well…" Harry started stuttering and his face reddened. "Well… I'm going to Hogsmeade with my friends…"

"Students are allowed to leave the castle at 10 AM the earliest" the man remarked. Harry flushed and looked away. Then Tom thought about something. "You're going alone without a teacher?" he asked.

"Yes… since you're on our side there's nothing to fear anymore, is there?"

Voldemort didn't answer. He thought about the rebellious Death Eaters, who were just waiting to find a good opportunity to find some weakness of his. He was sure they would attack Harry, as they believed he cared about the boy. Damned morons, even _he_ didn't know whether he cared about Harry or not, yet he knew they would try to kidnap the raven haired.

"You're not going there alone" he said, now fully awake. He looked Harry in the eye.

"Of course I'm not! I'm with Hermione, Ron, Draco, Ginny, Neville and Luna..."

"I'm going with you" Tom said emphatically and his eyes showed that he wouldn't accept any demur. Potter tried to find some words to object somehow; still it was impossible to do so under those dark eyes.

"Y-yes…" he silently agreed, sure he would regret it later.

* * *

EDIT: I've edited the chapters 1-9 today, just to correct the mistakes and the date (1996 instead of 2007). Sorry for not uploading in such a long time but I promise I'll upload something in the next week! I promise! x3 


	10. No Love?

_Hello again after a long break! Sorry this took so much, I just didn't have neither the time nor the energy. But now I'm back! (Fear me, lol!) I've got some tests and contests this week so I guess I'll be updating soon xD_

_This chapter's not beta'd, so, please, if you find any mistakes, do tell me about them! And if you find any of the character's OOC... tell me too. I might rewrite this chapter later, I'm not sure yet, but still, I'm posting it now. Please do tell me what do you think!_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**_10. No Love…?_**

* * *

The atmosphere during the walk to Hogsmeade was really odd. No one joked, no one gossiped, no one laughed, no one spoke. Harry cursed himself yet again for having agreed to Tom coming with them. Draco wouldn't even look at the Dark Lord, too afraid; Ron kept walking beside the blonde, trying his hardest to comfort the boy; Hermione and Ginny exchanged nervous glances; Neville was so pale that Harry was afraid he would faint shortly; Luna wasn't much different from her normal self, yet she too didn't say anything. Harry and Tom walked few feet behind his friends - Harry truly confused and worried about the whole situation, Tom looking unbothered by this. Soon Harry couldn't take it anymore.

"Why did you have to come with us?" he asked Tom, who nonchalantly replied:

"Because I _wanted _to."

Harry sighed. It was really embarrassing for him to walk like this with Tom and his friends. Had he known it would turn out to be like this, he would have never agreed to it!

When they got to Hogsmeade Harry and his friends entered the Honeydukes Sweetshop and the boy insisted on Tom staying outdoors. After all, he surely didn't want the man to witness him buying a present for the said man. Potter quickly chose the only chocolate that was neither heart-shaped nor pink-wrapped. It was a rectangular chocolate bar in a dark red paper. Happy, that he had found something, he neared the counter to buy the chocolate.

"What on Earth are you doing?!" exclaimed Hermione and snatched the chocolate out of his hands.

"Wha…?" he gaped at her. "I'm buying the present you told me to buy!" he replied and tried to get the sweet back. However, the girl didn't allow that.

"I told you to get him something _special_, not very expensive necessarily, but _special_ nevertheless!" she fussed. Harry tired to remember what the girl had said.

"But you said '_chocolate or such, nothing much…_'"

"Oh, forget that. Go look for something else! Anyway, I don't think V… Tom is the chocolate-lover type" she wondered looking through the window. Said man was leaning onto the shop's windows, obviously bored, his hands in the pockets of his coat. Around his neck he had wrapped a dark green scarf, which was waving in the rhythm of the wind.

"But…" he didn't finish, as the girl was already away, busy talking to Ginny about the present the red head was getting for her boyfriend, Dean Thomas. There was a time when Harry would glare with annoyance at Ginny and Dean when they held hands, but he had quickly gotten over it. After all now he was a married man, wasn't he?

Then Harry growled. If not chocolate, then what was he supposed to buy?! The boy sighed resigned and stormed out of the shop not paying attention to the rest of his friends. He rushed out through the doors and closed them behind him. Tom looked at him cracking an eyebrow.

"Already done?" the Dark Lord asked him. The boy didn't answer; he only adjusted his scarf around his neck. It was really cold that day and what Hermione had done truly unnerved him. He huffed and started walking in the castle's direction. Surely he wasn't in the shopping mood anymore. Tom followed him. They walked together to the castle, arm by arm, both of them cold, but neither coming closer to comfort the other.

When they got to the castle's gates a chill ran up Tom's spine. He hurriedly looked around and glanced in the Forbidden Forest's direction, yet he couldn't see anything.

"Something's wrong?" Harry asked concerned.

"Nothing…" Tom answered slowly and rushed the boy to the castle.

The second they disappeared into the castle a person walked out of the forest. A smile of triumph crept onto the woman's lips.

* * *

"Yes, Harry Potter, sir! Dobby will help Harry Potter, sir!" screeched the house elf and only a puff was heard. The next second the magical creature was gone.

The young wizard sighed. He had asked Dobby to go to the Diagonal Alley to buy something for Tom. He could only hope that the elf wouldn't buy anything too lovey-dovey. Sensing a huge headache coming, Harry leisurely walked out of the library where he had been talking with Dobby. Suddenly something brown and fluffy walked into him.

"Oh, please excuse me…" a girl's voice reached his ears. "…Harry! Where the hell have you been?"

The raven haired looked around. His friends stood there in front of him: Ron, Draco, Neville, Luna, Ginny and Hermione. The brown haired girl looked at him angrily.

"We've been worried sick about you! You cannot just walk away like that!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, mate, you could've told us, you know?" complained Ron and hung one of his arms loosely around Draco's neck. The blonde just grimaced and shook the arm off.

"We're aware that the Dark Lord's not our enemy anymore, Potter, but that was very inconsiderate of you" Malfoy added.

Harry hung his shoulders down.

"I-I'm sorry…" he pouted. "I was with Tom; you shouldn't have worried about me!"

The teens looked at each other and sighed. Luna passed her brown-haired friend by and said with an expressionless face:

"You shouldn't have run off by yourself like that. After all, it was you who asked us all to go together" the others nodded after hearing this.

"But…" Harry tried to object.

"Oh, come on! He's a married man now, after all! I think he can make decisions on his own" suddenly said the red haired girl.

"Hmm, you do have a point there, sis" Ron wondered.

"So what exactly did you ran off for?" the Slytherin boy inquired and smirked. "Did the Lord get too lonely, hmm?"

Harry rapidly stopped feeling guilty and retorted coldly.

"Tom was with us, for your information. But I guess you were too occupied with shitting your pants to notice" Harry glared at his former nemesis, who winced visibly, but didn't say anything.

"Harry, don't be rude, he was only joking" Hermione tried to defend the blond boy, something the second would never expect from her, making him feel both a little guilty for earlier jealousness and a bit happy.

"If that was supposed to be a joke then excuse me, I didn't find it funny at all" Harry replied coldly. His friends looked at him worriedly.

"So, um… Did you find anything for Tom in Hogsmeade?" Ginny asked, trying to break the sudden silence.

"No, I did not. A certain _someone_" he stopped and glared at Hermione "decided that my present wasn't good enough. I had to ask Dobby for help" he said and explained them that he had asked the elf to go and buy something.

"You sure are brave to trust a house elf enough to let him pick up the present" said Luna. "House elves are said to be quite wicked…"

"House elves are great, hard-working creatures, Luna" Hermione cut her in mid-sentence. "If not for them, we would have to do all those things they have to do! I've been thinking lately of reopening the club…"

"But, yeah, mate, what if he gets you somethin', like, really pinkish, plushy or too _girly_, you know…" Ron wondered and looked at his best friend apprehensively.

"I do trust him" Harry sighed. He only hoped Ron's fears wouldn't come true.

"Um, Harry…?" a silent voice sounded from the back of the group. The raven haired, Ron and Draco looked back to see Neville, plainly embarrassed.

"Yes, Neville?" he asked.

"Well… I just thought that… It would be better just… um, well… to spend some time with the person you like instead of buying them some expensive gifts… but it's all up to you, o-of course!" he stuttered and his face flushed slightly. Luna glanced at the boy and sighed.

"Neville might be right here" she admitted, while others nodded their heads.

"Nevertheless, he had asked Dobby already" Hermione reminded.

"O-oh, yeah…" Neville said quietly. Silence fell again. Before anyone could said something more an earsplitting puffing sound was heard.

"Harry Potter, sir!" screeched the house elf, as he smiled from ear to ear and bowed lowly. He stood up and bowed to Harry's friends as well. "Dobby found the perfect present, Harry Potter, sir!"

The teens looked expectantly at the magical creature, while he showed them a cubic box, about 3 inch long, wide and tall. Harry took it hesitantly from the elf and opened it.

"Whoa, you surely did find a nice present, you know" whispered Ron to Dobby, when he was admiring the content of the box.

"Thanks, Dobby. I knew I could count on you" Harry said and smiled softly.

* * *

The few days passed by really quickly and soon it was the Valentine's Day. As some days before, Harry woke up when Tom wasn't around already. When he was walking through the halls, he could see some sparkling and small hearts flying in the aid, probably an effect of love charms. During the breakfast many people received valentine's cards, some even were given a rose or other flowers. The atmosphere around the castle was quite nice and the weather was pretty fine. It was a perfect day. And so it seemed to some girls.

"P-professor Snape!" called some girl, probably in her 5th year, her robes indicating that she was from Ravenclaw. The Potion's Master turned around and glared the girl.

"What do you want, Éclair?" he hissed. He already had a bad feeling. It didn't help that half of the Great Hall was staring at the scene.

"Um, I-I…" the girl started stuttering and held an envelope to the teacher "Please accept this letter!" she exclaimed and looked down, her hair hiding the face. Severus sighed, but didn't take the envelope.

"If this is some kind of a _love_ letter" he hissed the word 'love' as if it was the most poisonous potion ever "then keep it. I won't accept this kind of things. You're dismissed. I do believe you have some classes in ten minutes. I'd suggest you go there or you might be late." Said that, he turned around and walked out of the Great Hall. The girl began trembling and a friend ran to her, gently hugging her.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he just didn't want to show his feelings in front of all these people…" she assured the other girl, who was crying now. They both left the Great Hall.

"What a cruel thing to do" whispered Hermione and sighed.

"You really think so?" Ginny asked. The golden trio and Draco looked at the red head. "Honestly, if he took the letter, she would just delude herself further" she explained.

Harry looked at the girl. Had he not been married, he might have considered asking her out. He smiled slightly. But he indeed was married already and was to give his husband a valentine's gift. This was going to take a lot of courage and effort, but he hoped Tom would be satisfied with the present.

* * *

"Tom, what are you doing?"

Harry had sneaked into Tom's small library. The man had been looking through the books the entire afternoon and Harry was tired of waiting for the right moment.

"Looking for something" the Dark Lord replied frigidly and continued his search. The boy sighed.

"For what?" he inquired. He was quite sure this was working on Tom's nerves and he would sooner or later give up the task.

"_Something_" he replied, but after seeing the sight a pouting Harry presented, he continued. "Oh, well, I might as well tell you about this" he took some book and walked out of the library and waved his hand at the boy, who followed him. They sat at the couch and Tom began talking.

"Long ago I dreamt of immortality" he started. This was no surprise to Harry. "I researched many ways to gain it, but there was one that interested me the most" he stopped and opened the book. It was old and the letters were kind of weird shaped… Soon Harry realized it wasn't English, but still he could understand the meaning of the words. "It's in parseltongue" Tom explained. "The method which interested me was about dividing your soul into some parts and hiding all but one of them into other objects. The one part was still in the wizard's body and those objects were called Horcruxes."

"So… You've divided your soul?"

"Yes… I have." Tom looked at the boy with pride in his eyes. "Not many wizards succeeded this. It's the darkest kind of the dark magic. One might easily lose his soul completely if something goes wrong. But, of course, I was positive from the very beginning that _I_ would succeed. Yet, there were some bad consequences as well…" he fell silent for a moment. "The splitting of one's soul affects one in a dreadful way. Not only it affects one psychologically, as one loses a part of one's soul each time, but physically as well. This wasn't a big deal to me anyway. My skin got paler, eyes got redder… I guess I was slowly losing my resemblance to a human being. But that was what I wanted, to become something like a God in this world. And the look matched the Dark Lord's image pretty well, don't you think?" He stopped and looked at the boy, who didn't answer. After a minute he continued. "That fateful night that I tried to kill you…" he lowered his voice, as if he wanted to hide something from his voice or perhaps he didn't want to trigger any unwanted emotions in the raven haired "…something went wrong. My body died as well as the part of soul which was left inside of it. Then I found myself in the nothingness, which I told you about already… But I came back. I don't know if it was due to some greater power or was it only thanks to the Horcruxes, yet, I guess I have been given an another chance. And as the war was going nowhere, I decided to offer a treaty. You know that part as well…" He stopped once more. The boy nodded. "But I realized I couldn't show up in that ugly form. I didn't want it any longer. And I needed my soul back, all of it. So I went on a journey… to destroy all of the Hrocruxes. You've destroyed one, you know?"

"O-oh, really…" Harry said faintly. Tom didn't seem to notice it.

"Yes, the diary. It was one of my first Horcruxes. But there was still the matter of another five ones… I've destroyed them all and after destroying each I could feel the soul coming back to me. My body as well has changed. But… there seems to be something missing. Like one more part… Maybe it was the one that died that night?" the Lord wondered. "This is what I'm trying to find out. But there aren't many books about Horcruxes…"

"You… you were determined so much on ruling the world that you even sacrificed your own soul?!" Harry exclaimed and stood up from the couch. Tom looked at his surprised.

"Yes" he replied shortly.

"I see…" Harry said in a trembling voice and turned around, ready to go away.

"Wait!" Tom also stood up and caught the boy's wrist before he could get away. "What's gotten into you?!" he shouted.

"What's gotten into me?! What's gotten into _you_!' the boy cried. "Here I am, thinking of you as a normal human being, while you're telling me quite the contradictory!" Tom growled hearing this and he pulled the boy, who fell back onto the couch. The man straddled him.

"Well, I…" he began growling, but something sharp poked him into his thigh. He looked down and picked up a box wrapped in a red paper. "What's this?" he asked.

"It was supposed to be a valentine's present for you. I was going to give it to you, but of course you had to ruin it all!" Harry cried once more and got out from the man's grip. He rushed out of the room leaving the door open and Tom dumbfounded.

* * *

"Hey, what's up, mate…?" Ron asked when Harry entered the Gryffindor common room. Draco was sitting next to him and they were holding hands. It didn't help Harry at all.

"Oh my God… Harry, are you crying?" Hermione asked. The boys looked at Harry in disbelief.

"No, my eyes are just sweating!" He replied and threw himself onto an empty sofa, which stood next to the other's armchairs. Hermione and Ron exchanged looks. Here it goes again…

"Harry, has Tom done something again?" the girl asked.

"Like, has he kissed you in the public again, or what?" Ron asked and Hermione hit him in the head. "Ouch, what was that for?" Harry sighed.

"He just… said some things that unnerved me. I thought he was a normal human now, but he started talking in that 'Dark Lord manner' about how great he was, how he had wished to be God and stuff like that…" the boy said silently.

"Well… That is what he is after all…" Ron began. "You cannot expect him to change completely…"

"I'm giving up my whole life here and he can't just give some pride up?! Would it hurt him that much not to talk about himself in such a manner and to not remind me of the day he murdered my parents on such a day?!" he cried and hid his face in a small pillow. There was nothing his friends could say to this.

* * *

Tom stormed through the hallways. He wanted to find Harry, immediately. He didn't know yet what he would do to the boy – shout at him for the boy's foolishness or thank for the present – he just wanted to see him. He had been walking, almost _running_, like this for almost half hour now and this wasn't working well on his nerves. What if the Death Eaters infiltrated the castle and someone kidnapped the bespectacled boy? There was one place he hadn't checked yet, however, he wasn't too happy about visiting it.

Riddle stood in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. He didn't want to have another loud argument when all the students were present in the castle. Looking around he spotted a small girl clad in black-red robes coming in his direction. When she saw him, she shrieked, turned around and tried silently to creep away. Fruitlessly.

"You there" Tom said. "Come here" he ordered in a cold voice. The little girl walked slowly to the man, fear obvious on her pretty face.

"Y-y-yes, p-professor Riddle, s-sir!" she screeched.

"What's the password?" he asked, his face still cold as ice. The girl, probably a first year, started shaking.

"U-um… I-I…" she tripped over her tongue and couldn't say a proper word. The Dark Lord sighed. He _needed_ that password. Seeing that this was going nowhere, he squatted, put a hand on the girl's head and asked in a more polite voice.

"What is the password?"

The girl made big eyes and blushed slightly.

"_S-sapere aude" _she replied and looked down. Tom stood up immediately and walked to the portrait.

"Who…? Ah, it's you again. Too bad for you that I won't let…" the Fat Lady began, but Tom smirked.

"_Sapere aude_, madam, _sapere aude_" he said with satisfaction. The Lady made a surprised face, but opened the passage nevertheless, muttering something about sneaky Slytherins. "And thank you, petit mademoiselle" he shouted to the little girl, who was still watching him, charmed. He could use his looks if he only needed to.

When he entered the common room, silence fell. The last giggling girls stopped talking and everyone looked at Tom, whose piercing eyes were focused on a boy sitting on a sofa in front of the fireplace… and on a girl, who was embracing him. Without much thought, Riddle walked up to them, grabbed the boy's arm and dragged him out of the room. He slammed the portrait behind them. He turned around and looked at the boy. Harry was standing there, his face low, covered by his hair. The man was about to say something sharp, to shout at the boy, but then he saw something. On the small part of the face which could be seen there was a wet trace of tears. Then he heard the whispers. He looked around and saw that there were already some students who were staring at the scene. Cursing, he dragged the boy to the nearest empty classroom. When the door closed, he evened his breathing.

"Harry…" he began in an angry voice, but sighed and gave up. "I'm sorry."

The boy looked at him surprised, tears in his eyes, but looked down almost straight away.

"Apologies accepted" Harry said silently, still not looking Tom in the eye. The Dark Lord sighed and lifted the green eyed face by chin using his fingers. After a moment of gazing into each other's eyes (which seemed like an eternity) Tom broke the moment and laid his forehead on the boy's one.

"Don't run off like that" he said and moved away. "Now, could you tell me what this is?" he asked pointing on an amulet, which hung around his neck. Harry chuckled slightly.

"It's an amulet."

"I can see that much. I'm asking what this is?" he inquired and held the necklace nearer his eyes. It was a small bottle with dark liquid in it, around it there were two white stones on the sides of it, two dark stones under the white ones, a pattern of silver under these, then a ruby, next two small sapphires and at the end another black stone. Above the potion there was a silver plug keeping the liquid inside and a silver loop.

"There are many charms on that amulet that may come in handy one day" Harry explained. "And the potion there is a very strong medical remedy. It cures most of the curses and wounds." Tom looked interested at the necklace ant the small bottle inside of it.

"Why… Thank you" he whispered silently. Potter smiled at him; however after a few minutes he began to feel uncomfortable.

"I think we should go now…" he started.

"Yes, that's a good idea" Tom breathed and sneaked his arms around the boy.

"Tom…! Wha…?" Harry didn't finish, as lips were pressed against his own and he felt all power leave him completely. After a fight with Tom, crying and all this, he was honestly tired and before he knew it, he fell asleep.

The man parted their lips and looked at the boy. He smirked. Without much more thought, he took the boy into his arms and left the classroom. This Valentine's Day wasn't that bad after all.

* * *

_AN Yes, I do know that the Horcruxes doesn't work that way, but it's what I think should have happened x3 Btw, 'sapere aude' means 'don't be afraid to think', which is like my new (?) motto XD I hope the chapter wasn't too dissappointing or too short... Honestly, PM me and yell all you want at me xD_


	11. Missing Photographs part I

_Hello everyone after... erm... half year? Oops... sorry for such a long wait. ANYWAIZ... here is a little reward - the chapter's a little bit longer than the previous chapters and plus - it's only the half of 'Missing Photographs'. We already work on the second part (25% complete), so we HOPE that we will have it done by Christmas, :D (lol, school and university are EVIL, I'm telling thee!). . . so. . . enjoy! :D  
_

* * *

**11. Missing Photographs - part I**

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**

Dennis Creevey marched happily through the hallways holding an old camera in his hands. He had inherited this hobby after his older brother, Colin, who was in 5th year now, while Dennis was still in his 3rd year. Both boys were in the 'Harry Potter fan club' and they were the ones who took photographs of the boy whenever he was caught off guard. Dennis had heard about Harry marrying Tom Riddle (nay, everyone have) and had been really angry about it, but soon he had gotten over it. As long as his hero was happy, he would be happy as well.

Some girls from Hufflepuff passed by him. He looked back at them. 'Cute' he thought, as the girls giggled noticing that he had been glancing. He blushed only slightly and continued his march. That day was really good for him, no tests were ahead of him, he had done all his homework, it was spring already and now he was hoping that he could get a good photograph of his idol.

He didn't have to wait long. Dennis turned into a corridor on the 3rd floor and quickly jumped back behind the wall. Harry Potter was there! He hurriedly checked his camera and peeked out from his hideout. Indeed, Harry was there, but he wasn't alone.

"…could you stop teasing me already? I have got a lot of homework to do today and you're not helping me by doing this!" said Harry as he stood and glared at his husband.

"Why, I'm not doing anything" the man replied smirking. Both of them were clad in their black spring light robes as it was getting warm already.

"Yes, you are!"

"Oh… Do you mean this…?" whispered Tom and ran his hand across Harry's cheek, making the boy's face redden.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about… Hey, stop that!" By now Tom's hand was already on Harry's back, pulling the boy closer to the hand's owner. Dennis made big eyes, but didn't stop looking nevertheless. Tom held Harry close pinning him to the corridor wall. The raven haired moaned slightly into the kiss and that was what woke Dennis up. He quietly took a photo, not quite understanding what was going on, but pretty sure that it was something significant. Sure that he had done something really important, the small Gryffindor smiled happily. He was about to leave to find his brother and show him his masterpiece, when a cold voice sounded behind his back.

"I don't think you're going anywhere with that…" hissed Tom, an angry grimace on his handsome face.

Dennis couldn't move for a second. Facing an angry Dark Lord wasn't something he had expected. He tried to slowly back away.

"I told you you're not going anywhere…" continued Riddle and neared the boy.

"Tom! L-leave him alone!" shouted Harry, who hadn't recovered yet from the kiss. His face was flushed and his hair was more dishevelled than usually. Tom turned around and glanced at his husband. The Dark Lord didn't say anything, but when he turned his head back, the young Gryffindor was already gone.

"I hope you're happy now" he murmured and passed the boy angrily. "And I do believe we ought to find that lad quickly… or would you rather experience the total humiliation when the whole Hogwarts sees a photograph of us in such a situation?"

* * *

"Oh! My! God! This is just too cute!" a young Gryffindor girl squealed while looking at the house's notice board.

Harry felt the small hair on his spine bristle. He and Tom had been searching the whole castle in order to find Dennis. Yet it hadn't been successful, so they split up. Tom were to search the Slytherin dungeons while Harry searched the Gryffindor tower. The boy tried to get past the crowd to see if it wasn't his and Tom's photograph on the notice board. He already had a bad feeling.

"Aw, man, that's just plain disgusting!" some young boy commented and left his place.

'Oh Merlin, please, don't let it be what I think it is…' Harry thought.

"Wow, they do look good with each other after all!" Dean Thomas said in an amused voice.

Finally Harry got to the board. What he saw made him wince with annoyance. And they all make such a big fuss about _this_?! Hanging on the board was a photograph of Heathcote Barbary (the guitarist for the Weird Sisters) and Stubby Boardman (Lead singer of the Hobgoblins). There were more and more people coming to see it with their own eyes. The Boy-Who-Lived sighed and made his way out of the crowd.

"Hey, mate, what's up?" he heard a voice call him.

Ronald Weasley waved to him. Next to him stood Hermione. Harry smiled and walked up to them.

"Hey guys. Haven't you seen Dennis Creevey somewhere around here?" he asked. The pair shook their heads. "Merlin, I have to find him!" he growled and looked angrily at other Gryffindor students as if they were hiding the small boy.

"What do you need him for, Harry?" Hermione asked, curious as ever. The raven haired eyed her and explained what had happened.

"Mate, ya sure are lucky!" Ron laughed and hit Harry on the back.

"Don't laugh at him, Ron!" the girl scolded him and continued "We'll help you look for him, okay?"

"Um, yeah, thanks" Harry replied.

And so the Golden Trio left the Gryffindor tower in search for a young little boy.

* * *

"Brother! Brother! Look what I've got!" Dennis breathed heavily but smiled nevertheless to his older brother. He had just gotten to the old classroom in the dungeons, which his brother had turned into a darkroom.

Colin turned around and carefully put a photograph away. In the slight red light of the darkroom he saw his brother, who was panting for air and smiling like never.

"Hmm? What is it, Dennis?" he asked, making sure he didn't dirty any of the photos in any way.

"Look… at this!" Dennis smiled and gave Colin the photographical plate. The older brother put it in the water and after a few minutes he looked at the developed photo and gasped. Tom Riddle's hands were holding Harry Potter in a fierce embrace and… Colin blushed. The men were definitely kissing.

"B-but… How did you…? I mean… T-they…" Colin stuttered, but never let go of the photograph. Dennis smile widened.

"Heh, told ya I'd take the best photo ever!" he laughed a little bit.

"I admit it's quite a good photo, but… Dennis…?" Colin's voice was quiet and shivery.

"Yes, brother?"

"You… Did they see you?" the older boy's eyes darted up and glared into the younger Gryffindor's ones. Dennis looked away.

"W-well… yeah, I guess they did…" After hearing that Colin gulped.

"Dennis! We're so dead! We're screwed! If they find out… no, they already know… Merlin, Dennis! Why the hell did you do that?! You-know-who will kill us!" he shouted, but lowered his voice, as if afraid that Riddle could hear them.

"But, brother…"

"No!" he cut Dennis in the mid-sentence. "The only thing we can do now… you have to give it back!"

"Say what?! No way!" the younger shouted.

"Dennis…" Colin growled and looked tiredly at his brother. "There is no other way… Just… Just go and hope _He_ won't kill you" he put his hand on Dennis' arm. "Be careful."

* * *

The young Gryffindor closed the door gently and sighed. He turned around and headed towards the nearest staircase which led upstairs. It was a long walk to professor Riddle's chambers and with each step Dennis took he could feel his courage leave him bit by bit. He only hoped there would be still some left if he ran into the Dark Lord. He gulped in fear and continued the walk to his demise.

The boy felt a shiver run down his spine as a delicate breath caressed his neck just beneath his jaw line.

"Oh, it seems he's got a photograph" he heard someone say next to his ear. He shrieked and tried to jump back to the other side, but…

"Hmm? Yes, it sure seems so" another voice, this one colder, said next to his other ear and the boy could swear he nearly had a heart attack. He spun around only to see two girls older than him, clad in blue and black robes, indicating they were from Ravenclaw. Both of them wore glasses, but one had long blonde hair and the other had short brown one.

"Hey there, young fellow, what is this photograph of?" asked the dark haired one and snickered, obviously being proud of having scared the boy.

"I'm pretty positive I saw a kissing pair on it, Holly" said the other one and glared at him knowingly, as if she knew all his secrets and wanted him to pay for them. _Badly_.

"Oooh, and who do you think is on that photo? Hmm, Judith?" inquired the first girl teasingly and readjusted the glasses on her nose while trying not to giggle.

"Well, I do not know, my friend, but it might, just _might_ – mind you – be the photograph that I _'lost'_ this morning" Judith said rolling her eyes at every stressed word she hissed, apparently highly annoyed.

"You think so? Well, then! There's only one way to find out if it really is that photo..."the brown haired one exclaimed gleefully and quickly snatched the photograph out of Dennis' hands. The boy tried to stop her somehow, but before he even had a chance to do something, Holly had already given the photo to her friend. "Psst!" the girl whispered theatrically to the boy. "If I were you, I'd be long gone now, because if it's really Judith's photo then…"

"Holly" the blond interrupted, a weird expression of utter disbelief on her face. Her friend looked at her quizzically and walked closer. A great range of various expressions ran through their faces as they studied the photograph. They were taking this so silently… but Dennis knew it was the silence before the storm.

When Holly's and Judith's eyes met the sudden squeals could have been taken for the World War III. The girls squealed, shrieked and, when they finally calmed down, giggled slightly trying to overcome the abrupt wave of happiness.

"Well, my…" Judith started and Dennis suddenly remembered how to breath (as he had been holding his breath all this time).

"This was surely unexpected." Holly said. The boy paled even more as the girls began their chat about the photograph. He hesitantly neared the Ravenclaws in a delusive hope of getting the photo back.

"This photo isn't half bad, you know" the blond commented. "The focus isn't the best, but taken under such circumstances I do believe it's quite a good job."

"Um, e-excuse me…" Dennis tried to get the girls' attention, but to no avail.

"Mhmm… If we used some repairing charms on it, we could correct the colours, it's a little bit too under-exposured, I think…" the brunette continued.

"Well, not exactly…"

"Beg my pardon, ladies, but what is the subject of this highly intellectual conversation?" a silky voice vibrated through the dungeons' corridor from behind their backs. Holly and Judith turned around slowly only to find an irritated face of one of the most gruesome teachers in the whole Hogwarts' history. If Dennis thought he was screwed the second the Ravenclaws appeared, now he was one hundred percent sure of that.

"P-professor…" Holly whispered, her voice weak, eyes blurry and a faint blush on her pale cheeks. That was what brought Judith back on Earth.

"Good afternoon, professor" the blond Ravenclaw said, bowed her head slightly and poked Holly with her elbow. This seemed to wake the brunette up a little bit, as she quickly looked down on the ground… only to glance nervously back at the teacher's face every few seconds.

"Miss Judith Gwynedd, Miss Holly Aberffraw, Mister Dennis Creevey" the professor nodded his head curtly at the students, his eyes not lingering on any of them more than a few seconds.

"P-pro-professor Snape!" Dennis shrieked and the rest of the blood left his face. He could swear he was near fainting by then. The teacher looked maliciously at him and then at his camera.

"What is that? And why are you conspiring in _my_ dungeons?" he inquired and showed the corridor and the door to his chambers with his hand. Suddenly he spotted a photograph in Judith's hand and reached his hand out. He opened it in a way demanding the girl to give him the picture. "What might that piece of paper be?"

The blond shot a quick nervous glance at her friend, who was still looking admiringly at the old bat. Honestly, _what _did she see in _him_? And in _such _situation?! Judith sighed and hesitantly gave the photograph to the Potions Master. He took it swiftly and was about to say something, but stopped as his jaw clung slightly open.

'_Potter... and Dark Lord....' _Snape thought as he observed the photograph. Well, it was expected that they'd be _doing_ this kind of _things_, but he hadn't thought of it before and, as for him, he could have stayed like that in blissful ignorance. However, it seemed that the snotty fate had other things planned for him. Out of the blue he noticed one tiny detail of the photograph – namely, when he studied the picture closer he saw that the Dark Lord had been looking from the corner of his eye at the one who had taken the photograph. Severus shivered slightly as a cold bad feeling ran down his spine. Knowing his luck he was deep down in trouble once more. And yet again thanks to Harry Potter. Snape cleared his throat wishing he hadn't been there. He was about to say some cutting comment, but Holly suddenly woke up from her '_let's-worship-the-Potions-Master'_ state, looked around quickly and spoke.

"Sev.... I mean, erm" she coughed slightly. "Professor, however I enjoy your company, may I ask of you to give us the photograph so we can part our ways and find suitable hideouts so Professor Riddle doesn't kill us?"

Severus stood there for a while looking at the young Ravenclaw as if she had just Apparted in front of him.

"Well, I do believe that this photograph does not belong to _any_ of you, so I will confiscate it for the time being. You're dismissed. _All_ of you." Snape said. He gave Holly one longer stare and turned around leaving the students by themselves, his dark robe fluttering behind him in his 'cold-sophisticated-_and-_evil' way.

As soon as the Potion Master left the trio, Dennis and Judith suspired happily, while Holly sighed sadly. Judith gave her a weird look.

"You do realize that people in Hogwarts are divided into two groups: you and those who fear Snape?" she said.

"Oh? So you're either myself or you fear him?" the brunette snickered.

"No. Neither. I'm above all labels" she said with superiority. As she was smirking she heard the fading steps of Dennis, who ran away in the direction of Gryffindor tower. "My... Looks like the young Creevey doesn't want to keep us company anymore."

"Oh, well, too bad for him." Holly replied. "Now, you won't honestly tell me that you plan on leaving Sevvie and _the_ photograph just like that?"

"Me? Leave it just like that? Nay, my dear friend, never."

They both gave each other meaningful looks, smirked and followed the gruesome professor.

* * *

Snape marched in the direction of his chambers. He shoot a quick glance at the photograph. _Hell_, this was just SO wrong. On more than one level. He shook his head, hair covering his eyes. No, he was not supposed to think about... _such_ things at the moment. He had to get out of it. _Somehow_. He stopped and started marching in the other direction. Maybe if he gave the photo to the Dark Lord and say he had confiscated it (which was the truth!), he'd be forgiven... But, no, if all those years of spying taught him something, it was that the Dark Lord rarely ever forgave anything. He stopped dead in his track. No, he would _not_ give Him the photograph. As bitter as his life was, Snape still cherished it, if only a little bit. He started walking in the direction of his chambers once more. He'd have to get rid of the evidence. But how? Burning might seem a little bit old fashioned, but it sure was untraceable and would do just fine. Snape sighted contently, only a little bit shakily. He was saved. Or so he thought.

Standing in front of his chamber doors was no one else but Tom Marvolo Riddle.

* * *

Tom looked in amusement as Snape marched back and forth a few times. It took the Potions Master a while to even notice Tom's presence (if not for the entertaining show Snape had provided, Tom might have even _done something_ about it). Oh, and the look on Severus' face sure was worth it.

"M-my lord...? I mean, Professor?" Snape gasped and hid his hands behind his back. As childish as it was, he _had_ to hide the photograph. Any possible way.

"Hmm, good afternoon, _Professor_ Snape" Tom said looking highly intrigued. "Have you by any chance seen young Mr. Dennis Creevey down here?"

"Mr. Creevey? No, I'm afraid I haven't, sir" Snape said trying to look into the Dark Lords eyes. In times like this Occlumency and years of spying paid off.

"You haven't, you say... Odd, considering the fact that I'm positive I saw him running away from here..." the Lord said observing Snape as sweat started falling down from the Potions Master's temples. Tom hadn't seen Dennis down in the dungeons, yet he just _loved_ to play with people. "He just happened to lay his hands on _something_" Tom made a pause and glanced at Severus' arms "he shouldn't have. When I find him I'll make sure he suffers the consequences. Maybe some old traditional tortures... or some mental suffering..." the Dark Lord leisurely looked at his fingernails. Snape gulped.

"Oh, I see..." Severus cleared his throat. "I'll make sure to send him off to you, sir, as soon as I get the chance."

"Splendid" Tom replied. He looked like he was about to leave, yet he stopped and looked intensively at Snape.

"Anything else you need, sir?" Snape said trying to make his voice not shiver.

"Now that you mention it, Severus..." Tom reached his hand out. "I was wondering if you could give me the photograph you're holding behind your back." Of course Tom didn't know that Snape had indeed had the photo, yet he had a feeling that he was right. And besides, Snape rarely was as nervous as he was now. Unless he lied about something very important.

The Potions Master's face got even paler than normally. In a split of a second he considered his choices. He could run, but then he'd give himself away anyway... He could also give the photograph to the Dark Lord, which he could consider a quick death. Better than running away and dying a coward's death. And plus he could always lie that he did not know Dennis took the photograph and say that he was about to give it back. He slowly started straightening his arms to show the photo to the other Professor.

"Professor!" suddenly Severus felt something grab onto his arm in which he held the photo, efficiently stopping him. He quickly looked down to his side and saw Holly Aberffraw clutching onto his arm. He was so shocked he didn't say anything. Then he felt someone else pull the photograph out of his hand and place something else inside.

"Ah, the Ravenclaw girls" Tom nodded his head and looked amused at the scene Holly and Severus presented.

"Good afternoon, Professor Riddle" Judith said and smiled to the man. She unnoticeably slid something into her pocket.

"Good indeed, Miss Gwynedd. However I do have some... interest I have to attend to, so, Severus, do give me the item you're holding" he said a little bit impatiently. Holly loosened the grip on the Potions Master's arm and he stretched his hand out to the Dark Lord. Tom took the paper Severus had been holding. He cracked an eyebrow and snickered. "My, my, Severus... Didn't know you were up to _that_." Still smirking he gave the paper back to the Potions Master. "Well, I must bid my farewells. Ladies, _Professor_."

Snape looked dumbfounded at the retreating form of the Dark Lord. He could not believe that he survived that. He looked at the Ravenclaws, who smiled and then backed a little bit. Having a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, he looked at the paper he had been holding. It seemed it was a front page of some magazine for witches. But when he looked at the contents of it he wasn't so sure anymore if he should be thankful for the rescue.

It was the front page of 'Playwitch'. It wouldn't be so bad, if the main topic of the issue wasn't 'Severus Snape: Sexy Secrets'. In the background a topless Severus was lying and sensuously touching his lips with his fingers.

"What... on Earth... is _this_?!" he scowled and glared at the students. Judith blushed and looked away, Holly's face turned the reddest shade possible and looked down on the floor. Snape's jaw clenched. "Miss Gwynedd, Miss Aberffraw. My Office. Now."

Both girls sighed and followed the teacher though his office door.

"So... I guess we're getting detention?" Judith asked as she entered the office. Holly looked hopefully at the Professor, who didn't say anything. He just sat behind his desk, put his elbows on it and rested his chin on his entangled fingers. The Ravenclaws seated themselves on the chairs in front of the desk. Then the professor started laughing silently.

"Are... you _all_ right, sir?" Holly asked, worry clear in her voice. This only made Severus laugh louder and more immorally.

"I'm smiling, dear ladies. And that alone should scare you" Snape said evilly. And indeed they felt shivers running down their spines. The girls rapidly glanced at each other and made a quick decision – they would _not_ show fear. The brunette sighed theatrically.

"I guess we shouldn't have helped you out then, sir" the girl said and pouted. Snape rethought the whole situation. It could have been a _lot_ worse if the girls hadn't helped him out. After all, he preferred to be thought of as a playboy than... what would have been left of him if he had given Tom the photograph. He growled and made a dismissive gesture with his hand.

"Well... I _did_ plan on ripping your skin off, pouring salt into the open wounds, feeding you to the Giant Squid and laughing while relishing your screams of agony, but..." he sighed once more "I suppose normal detention will do as well."

The students looked at him sceptically. Had Tom already cursed him?

"Professor... Are you serious?" Judith asked, not quite sure if the Potions Master was feeling all right. Severus only glared at them.

"Indeed I am, ladies" he growled, dissolved his fingers and reached out for some papers that had been lying on his desk. "A few feet long essay about wyverns' claws, their usage in remedy potions and eventual _misfortunes _that may occur if used improperly. Additionally a month of cleaning all washrooms in Hogwarts _without_ using _any_ kind of magic. That should teach you a proper lesson..."

"But Professor" Holly cut him in the mid-sentence. He looked at her peevishly. "We already had an essay about wyvern's claws" Judith almost hit her friend. If they already had it written it would be easier for them to re-write it! "and about that... I still have some questions... Like would it really be _that_ dangerous to mix the claws with hippogriffs' tears? I recall you telling us that absolutely _nothing_ could explode after mixing with tears of any kind..."

Snape straightened in the chair and relaxed his hands. His attention was now fully on Holly and he seemed to be slowly getting absorbed in the conversation about potions. The brunette glanced at the blond and gave her a meaningful look. She didn't have to do it twice.

"Well, usually tears are neutral in potions, adding only some magical power, not changing the properties of concoctions, however wyvern's claws are already quite magical even without those tears, so when they are mixed together..." Snape went on about the subject, already absorbed completely in the conversation. Judith glanced one last time at her friend, who also seemed captivated in the talk. She just didn't know if Holly was so interested in wyvern's claws or if she was only fascinated by the way Severus gesticulated his hands while explaining the way a remedy potion could turn into a vicious self-destructing mixture. Judith silently crept out of her chair and slid out of the office. When she was outside she checked if she had the photograph in her pocked. She took it out and admired it once more, smirked and started her search for the sexiest teacher in Hogwarts (in everyone's, except Holly's, opinion).

* * *

"Oh, Tommwieee! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" - Judith whispered more to herself taking a quick peek into a side corridor.

But unfortunately, professor Riddle did not appear in front of her, despite her polite demand. As a matter of fact, she had been looking for him for over an hour already, yet she hadn't found him so far. There was no sign of him in his chambers nor in his office, and even Potter was wandering without him around the castle.

She sighed as she resignedly turned back and... Of course. It was plain obvious that in this particular moment she just simply had to walk into _him_, wasn't it?

* * *


	12. Missing Photographs part II

* * *

_**11. Missing Photographs – Part II (Misunderstandings – 'It's all about the guys')**_

_**

* * *

**_

"And so you see, Miss Aberffraw, it's clearly apparent that those tears combined with wyvern's claws are indeed quite a dangerous potion" Snape finished triumphantly and looked at his student. Holly smiled contently, but after a minute of silence she started playing with her hair shyly. Severus noticed this sudden change in her behaviour and looked around. Judith was nowhere to be found. He pursed his lips into a firm line and burrowed his eyebrows. "Would you be so pleasant, Miss Aberffraw, and tell me _where on Earth _is Miss Gwynedd?" he scowled and glared at the student, who looked away embarrassedly and sighed. Then Holly smirked slightly, sat more comfortably in her chair and crossed one leg over the other.

"Oh, my dear Professor, you do realise the situation you are in, do you not?" she said now fully daring. The teacher face expression changed into a surprised one as he took in the sight before his eyes. Snape didn't say anything so Holly continued. "My friend is out there with _the_ photograph. What do you think, sir? Would Professor Riddle believe Judith if she told him what has happened or would he rather believe you, sir, if you told him you carry posters of yourself in such compromising positions?"

The professor looked at the brunette disbelievingly and then he started laughing, honestly laughing. Holly lost some of her confidence, yet she tried to regain her composure.

"How utterly _Slytherin_ of you, young lady!" he laughed and his face expression somewhat softened. Up to this point the Ravenclaw was wondering if someone hadn't honestly used some Polyjuice Potion and impersonated the teacher. "I wonder how is it possible that you didn't end up in my house" he reflected. The girl smiled hearing that.

"That would be too easy, sir" she replied smirking. Severus furrowed his eyebrows, but didn't say anything. Seeing that he wasn't about to say anything, Holly stood up and walked up to the door. "Good night, Professor" she said slowly and, when she was about to leave, glanced once more at the teacher and smiled almost shyly. Without any further words she made a move to leave the room, but then Severus spoke.

"I don't recall dismissing you, Miss Aberffraw" the professor said. Holly looked back at him and gave him one of her almost-like-an-slithering-or-even-more-so smirk.

"If you want me to stay so badly, sir, you have to ask directly" after saying that she smiled a smile of a winner and left the office. Severus stared at the doors for a long while. Finally he sighed, stood up and headed towards his private chambers.

"Honestly" he said to himself with some amusement, a small trace of sadness in his voice. "If God truly exists he's got quite a snotty sense of humour."

* * *

"Ouch! E-excuse me!" Harry exclaimed as he literally walked into Judith. She staggered, tried to keep her balance and then glared the boy. She caught a glimpse of something gold... only then she realised it was Potter's wedding ring. The girl felt anger rise inside of her.

"No harm done, although you could have been more cautious" she said icily and made a move to leave when Harry suddenly caught her arm.

"Please, wait!" he said and she unenthusiastically turned back. Potter seemed a bit embarrassed, nevertheless he continued. "Um... Gwynedd, right? You're in the photography club, aren't you?" he asked and hopefully looked into her eyes. She shifted uncomfortably, wishing she hadn't ran into the boy, yet she nodded her head confirmedly. The Gryffindor remained quiet for a while, as if trying to find the proper words. "Have you... by _any_ chance... seen Dennis Creevey?" he questioned and looked at the ground, not able to look the girl in the eyes. She quirked an eyebrow. And smirked.

"Yes... I did happen to see him" she said and tried her best not to show any emotion on her face. Contrary, Harry's face lit up and hope shimmered in his eyes.

"You did? Where? When?" he inquired full of anticipation.

"Oh... Somewhere near the dungeons... He was running away as if he had seen an ogre... or maybe he had just simply saw Snape? Anyway, I'm afraid he's somewhere far away now, shaking in a corner, hoping that no one finds him" she finished, proud of herself, her face still as blank as a piece of paper. Potter hung his head disappointedly. Did it mean that Snape had the photograph? If so, he was doomed. There was _no way in hell_ he was going to go and simply ask Snape, if he had seen it.

"Thanks for your help..." he said sadly, looked at Judith and tried to smile. He made an attempt to move, but then he heard a low mutter. He turned back and saw Gwynedd with an odd expression on her face, as if she was forcing herself.

"I also saw Professor Riddle talking with Snape down there, if this helps" she said, quickly spun around and hurriedly walked away. Harry gaped at her retreating silhouette. When she was out of his sight, he blinked a few times and smiled. One could always count on a Ravenclaw.

Only after a few good minutes of practically _running_ Judith slowed down and tried to catch her breath properly. She cursed under her nose and whispered to herself:

"Potter, you'd better be thankful for that. Anyway, I did that only for Tom's sake, not yours!"

She began walking again, hoping that this time she'd find Tom without any further obstacles on her way. Yet there was still a long road ahead of her, not only literally.

When Judith finally arrived at Tom's chambers' door Holly was there waiting for her already.

"Hello", the brunette smiled happily and in the very moment Judith could feel a huge headache coming. How come everyone was granted their happiness but she wasn't?

"Hey", the blond Ravenclaw replied and looked around in displeasure. No, no one there. Holly came up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, only irritating her friend further.

"What's wrong, huh?", Aberffraw inquired worriedly, her good mood disappearing slowly. The blond sighed.

"Nothing, everything's fine", was the girl's answer, which only made Holly furrow her eyebrows. Seeing the look her friend was giving her Judith sighed again and explained. "I just couldn't find Tom anywhere." Another sigh. "Instead, on my way here I ran into Potter. Potter! Him of all the students in all of Hogwarts!", she lamented exasperatedly.

The brunette looked at her friend worriedly. She wanted to cheer her up somehow, but couldn't find any fitting words. The time was passing by excruciatingly slowly, still none of them said anything. They stood there in silence for a few long minutes until the sound of soft footsteps was heard from the east corridor.

"Someone's coming!" the brunette exclaimed and grabbed her friend by the wrist trying to quickly walk away. Judith tore her hand out of the grip. "What are you doing?", Holly whispered hurriedly and angrily. "What if someone sees us in front of Professor Riddle's chambers? They'll think we're some kind of stalkers! And what if it's Professor Riddle himself? He'll kill us if he sees us with _the _photograph!"

Judith only sighed once more.

"He _won't_ kill us. I'm especially here to _give_ him the photo", she explained and looked in the direction from which the footsteps were coming.

"Are you _insane_?", Holly asked disbelievingly, her eyebrows high up. The blond didn't reply. "You _have to_ be kidding me!". When Holly didn't get still any reaction from her friend she snorted curtly. "Fine, you self-murderer! Don't say I didn't warn you though", she gave Judith one last glance and strode away in the opposite direction than the one from which the footsteps were heard.

It didn't take long before Tom's slim silhouette nosed out from the east corridor.

"Good afternoon yet again, Professor", Judith said and smiled.

* * *

"Ouch!", Holly exclaimed as something brown ran into her. She wasn't quite enough away from Judith and Tom and she surely didn't want to get caught up in this whole affair. The brunette looked at the _thing_ that ran into her and realized with some amusement it was no one else but one of the Golden Trio, Hermione Granger.

"I'm so sorry!" Hermione apologized straightening her clothes. Aberffraw eyed her. Granger hasn't changed much during those six years at Hogwarts. Well, except for the teeth, which was a good thing. Holly wondered why she didn't end up in Ravenclaw and if she could be a good companion... but then she remembered the fact that Granger knew the answer for every question Professor Snape asked and Holly certainly didn't fancy that fact.

'_Oooh, no, my friend, I won't let you steal my show!',_ the Ravenclaw thought.

"God, what's wrong with you people today? Everyone keeps running into each other, what's this? A 'walk-into-someone' day?", Holly grumbled although not really angry about _that_ – Hermione didn't have to know the real reason, did she? Aberffraw glanced back behind herself and could see Judith and Tom talking together. Good, it seemed he wouldn't kill her anytime soon.

"I'm sorry", the Gryffindor apologized again. "Hey, have you by any chance seen…"

"Dennis Creevey? Or maybe the missing photograph?", Holly cut her in the mid-sentence.

Hermione stood there, speechless maybe for the second or third time in her whole life. It looked as if she couldn't decide what to feel – shock, because Holly guessed what she was about to say, or anger, because someone interrupted her.

"Well, I have. Both, in fact", the Ravenclaw explained not waiting for any more questions or accusations. "But don't you worry about this any further. I can ensure you it's alright now", she added and smiled politely. After all she didn't want Granger to find out about the whole affair.

"How come you know this? Were you involved in this? Does Harry know? What happened to Dennis?Where is _it_?", the other girl showered Holly with questions.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold your horses, girlie!", Aberffraw laughed. "It's _alright_. Everything's _fine_. Do you need to know anything more?"

Hermione looked doubtfully at her. Suddenly she saw that down the corridor Judith and Tom were standing and talking.

"What's happening over there?", she asked and tried to go around Holly in order to walk up to the pair.

"Wait!", the Ravenclaw exclaimed and stood in Granger's way. She cursed silently. "You can't go there! I mean… um…" The Gryffindor ignored the warning and tried once more to get pass the girl. "Stop there, I said!", Holly put both hands on Hermione's shoulders trying to keep the girl in place.

"What?", Hermione asked, irritated that she couldn't do what she wanted to do. Holly tried to find any good excuse, but couldn't find any.

"You simply can't. It's… it's… it's private!", she explained lamely.

"_Private_?", the Gryffindor inquired and had an idea already forming in her head.

"Yeah, it's private…", seeing the look in Hermione's eyes Holly gulped. "Whoa, it's _not_ what you think! It's _not_…"

"_Sure_, of _course_ I believe you", Granger nodded and turned around quickly, not waiting for any response. Holly cursed again, this time aloud. This wouldn't end up nicely.

* * *

"Good afternoon, Miss Gwynedd", Tom beckoned her with his head and made a move to walk past her, but stopped when she spoke.

"Excuse me, sir, but I guess I've got something that belongs to you."

Tom stopped in his track and looked at the blond Ravenclaw. She didn't betray any signs of embarrassment nor shyness, which intrigued him. He cracked one eyebrow and fixed his gaze on her face.

"And what might that be?", he inquired resting one hand on his hip. The girl reached into her pocked and gave him a paper.

"I found it down in the dungeons, sir, right after we'd seen Dennis Creevey. He must have dropped it.", she explained leisurely and waited for some kind of response. It took quite a lot of her courage – years of mastering her self-control paid off. She wasn't even sure if it was the right thing to do, what would be the consequences of it if that was what she truly wanted, yet she stood there patiently trying to keep a straight face.

Tom examined the photograph carefully with a blank face. After a while he smirked slightly.

"Twenty five points to Ravenclaw", he said. He was about to leave when he stopped and glanced back at the girl. "Thanks to you, dear mademoiselle, I think I will experience quite an enjoyable evening today", he added with a mischievous smile and left.

Judith, left by herself, blushed slightly and shook her head sighing.

"_It would be more enjoyable if it was with _someone_ else, dear monsieur",_ she commented in her thoughts and left the place as well.

* * *

After almost the whole day without finding Dennis nor Collin Creevey Harry felt resigned and exhausted. His consciousness was telling him that nothing good would happen if this continued. He felt angry and almost desperate at the thought that the photograph could be shown in the following day's _Daily Prophet_. It was only his and Tom's business what they did together! He wasn't even gay in the first place! He couldn't even bet his hand if _Tom _was gay. This surely wouldn't suit his cold-and-oh-so-sophisticated Dark Lord image. On the other hand, Riddle was the one who suggested the marriage. Whatever the situation they both were in was, the press and the masses should think of it only as a political marriage, nothing else. After all it _was_ all there ever was. All those... _weird_ behaviours on Tom's part were surely only some kind of his whimsical quirks merely to entertain the man from time to time.

The raven haired boy sighed. This was not the time to be thinking such things. Not when he was supposed to be preventing the following day's disaster. He climbed up the stairs leading to Gryffindor boys' chambers. He hoped that maybe Ron had found out something that might help them. Yet, when he reached the door to Ron's chamber, he wasn't sure it was such a good idea after all.

A muffled moan was heard through the door.

"Draco...", Ron's pleading voice shivered slightly. Hearing this Harry's face reddened and he decided to leave, yet something held him in place restraining him from going away. "We should be helping Harry right now... not... _this_..."

"Mph", a _very_ muffled snort was heard and, after a short pause, Draco's voice continued. "Oh, stop being so sissy. One could think you didn't like... BJs", the blond boy almost whispered. "While _I_ can pretty well _see_ how much you _enjoy_ them", the Slytherin snickered a little.

"_Bee Jays? Jays that are bees?", _Harry thought confused not understanding what Draco had meant. "_How can a bird be a bee at the same time? What on earth is he referring to?" _He stepped closer and put his ear to the door.

"Talking about Potter..." Draco started anew. The boy outside agitated a little bit. "I wonder if you can guess..." another muffled sound and a yelp were heard. "...what the Mudbl... I mean, your _dear _Granger told me a while ago?"

"I-I... don-don't..." Ron stuttered and after taking a shivering breath in he added: "I would appreciate it if you... stopped talking while doing _this._" Hearing this Draco sighed.

"My, my... but it's more entertaining for the _giving_ party that way", Malfoy laughed a little. After another moan and a after longer pause Harry thought the conversation was over, but then Draco continued. "Anyways", he said and Ron followed with a sigh. "She told me she had seen the Dark Lord on the third floor... talking with that Gwynedd _girl. _And that no one else but Aberffraw had told her it had been _private_... and that it had surely looked so.", he finished triumphantly.

Harry gasped outside the door. He quickly fixed the glasses on his nose and left the place immediately.

Did Tom... _cheat_ on him? He stopped in his track and wondered. It wouldn't be a big surprise. After all _Harry_ surely wasn't a _girl_ and _Tom _surely was a _man_. It was only natural that a grown-up man would want to be _private_ with a _girl_. Yet it didn't mean Harry would accept it. After all Tom was married to _him_, not some fancy, squealing fan-girl. Feeling angry Harry continued his way to his and Tom's chambers.

* * *

Tom was sitting at the desk and looking through some papers when the door to their chambers opened quietly. He looked up from the documents and saw Potter resting his back on the now closed doors. Harry's head hung low and the boy's fringe hid his eyes successfully. Tom sighed and refocused on the written materials.

"There is no further need to worry your pretty head about Mr. Creevey anymore, Harry", he commented curtly, feeling no need to explain further. He had read half of a page before he noticed that Harry didn't neither say anything nor move. The Dark Lord waited a while, but when his husband stayed still in the same spot he finally stood up with a low annoyed growl and walked up to the boy. "Harry?", he tried to get Potter's attention. To no avail. With a frown on his face he lay a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Suddenly Harry raised his head and shook Tom's hand off his shoulder. His eyes flashed with a range of emotions, anger the most perceptible.

"How _dare_ you act as if nothing happened!", Harry shouted at the man, hurt evident in his voice. This surprised Riddle and he took one step back while studying Harry. The boy's fists were balled, the glasses hung low on his nose threatening to fall if he made any more sudden movements. His hair was even more disheveled than usually, green eyes flared with wrath and his teeth were visible between the slightly parted lips. He was obviously infuriated. The Dark Lord felt it affect him as well.

"Do tell me, Mr. Potter, what the bloody hell are you referring to?", Tom seethed through his teeth and glared at the younger boy.

"What am I referring to? _What_ am I referring to?", the boy asked unbelieving and shook his head. "You know damn well _what_ I am referring to!", he exclaimed. Magic started dancing on his skin, his clothing and hair moving slightly thanks to the power around the boy. Tom noticed this and was about to calm the younger man when the magic abruptly grew stronger. The force made him take another few steps back and when his calves touched the front of the couch he fell on it with a soft groan. In a second Harry was right next to him. He didn't even have the time to blink, the boy straddled him immediately and neared so much that their noses almost touched. Tom still could feel the power emitting from the bespectacled male.

"Calm down, Harry...", Tom groaned, but the said boy quickly interrupted him.

"No, I won't calm down!", he exclaimed and caught the Dark Lord by his collar, but his breathing somewhat evened and when he spoke his voice was lower. "I know I might not be as intelligent, strong or handsome as you are or not as cute or interesting as some gallant girls, but that does not mean that you can just walk around being _private_ with some females! You are _mine_! _Mine_!"On the spur of the moment Harry pressed his lips firmly on Tom's ones. The kiss lasted a few seconds, but when the boy let go he was breathing heavily. He glared into Tom's eyes and the man looked at the boy in silence with eyebrows raised high. Finally Tom lowered his head. Harry, now calmed down, stared deeper at him.

"You foolish brat!", Tom exclaimed as he abruptly stood up causing Harry to fall down. The boy landed on the floor, but quickly stood up and readied himself for another round of shouting. "You thought _I_ was having an _affair_?", the Dark Lord questioned looking down at the boy.

Harry cursed their difference in height, but stood straight. He wanted to say some cutting retort, yet nothing good came to his mind. He couldn't simply say 'yes' – he knew it'd sound too childish and he was losing his self-confidence faster and faster. He was on the verge of giving up, when Tom turned his back on him. "I'm disappointed with you", Riddle's voice was scarcely louder than a whisper. He left the room and softly closed the door to his library behind himself, leaving Harry looking small and defeated. Yet some anger still smouldered inside of the boy. Harry huffed and left the room as well, choosing the bedroom as his destination. There he threw himself on the bed and hid his face in one of the velvet covered pillows. He felt his emotions fight a fierce battle in his mind – guilt and humiliation versus anger. He felt bad for letting Tom down, yet he still wasn't sure if the man had been innocent. After all he _had_ been seen looking _private_ with a girl. The boy let out an irritated and pained cry. Annoyed by himself he sat on the bed hoping that the new position would help him think. And he wasn't mistaken.

On the nightstand stood a framed photograph. Harry held his breath as he came up to the piece of furniture. When he recognized the photo he gasped and held it in his hands. In the picture small versions of himself and Tom were kissing each other and seemed pretty content with their situation. Only from time to time the tiny Tom would glance in the direction of the camera with a hateful glare as if cursing the photographer for interrupting their activities.

It didn't take much for Harry to put the facts together. Gwynedd was in the dungeons. She saw Dennis. She knew about the photograph. And she did talk with Tom.

She was the one to give Tom the photograph.

Suddenly Harry felt very, very small, stupid and angry with himself.

* * *

"...Tom?"

The Dark Lord was sitting in the only chair in his library with the same papers as before in his hands. He didn't even glance up when Harry had called his name. The younger wizard had a feeling of déjà-vu, except for the place and his inner feelings. The bespectacled lad neared the sitting man and stood for a long moment in front of the Dark Lord. Many emotions surged inside of him: shame, fear and uncertainty. He wanted to apologise, to voice his feelings somehow and yet he couldn't.

"If you wish to stand here for the whole day at least do me the honour of showing me your face", Tom muttered and looked at Harry's eyes, which were hidden by the boy's fringe. Finally Harry raised his face and hesitantly met Tom's gaze. They both remained in silence and after a long while the Dark Lord stood up and put a hand on Potter's head.

"Snape didn't teach you a thing, did he?", Tom asked, grinning.

"Wha...?", Harry gaped, not knowing what the man was talking about. Then he remembered his lessons with Snape the previous year... "You used Legilimiency on me!", he exclaimed.

"Why, yes, I did", the man smirked. He took his hand back. "If I hadn't done that, it would have taken you the whole eternity to admit that I was right and you were, indeed, mistaken. And by the way, Harry...", he whispered into the boy's ear. "It was the first time you've kissed me on your own accord", he paused here and blew slightly into the ear making Harry shiver. "Can't say that wasn't... entertaining."

The Gryffindor lowered his flushed head again and bit his lower lip. Riddle walked by him and entered their living room. The boy shook his head and noticed a pile of papers lying on Tom's chair.

"Hey, Tom! You've forgotten your papers..." Harry took the documents into his hands and glanced through them. One paragraph with the Ministry seal underneath caught his eye and he started reading it out laud while walking to their couch. "_To Mr. Tom Marvolo Riddle. Sir, you are expected to be present at the interrogatory of Mr. Fenrir Greyback that will take place_... Why do they ask you to come there?", he asked and sat comfortably next to Tom. The said man growled and took the papers back from the boy.

"It's routine. You thought I would give up my whole power only to be a mere teacher at Hogwarts?", he raised one eyebrow. When Harry didn't reply, he continued. "Of course I had to have something more out of it. Had you been reading the Daily Prophet properly you would have known that since the day we signed the Points of Agreement my status in the Ministry of Magic is, with some limitations of course, equal to the Minister's one. And since Fudge's such a weakling... Well, basically...", he paused here and neared to the boy. "I'm in control here", he whispered devilishly and Harry could swear he saw the dark brown of his eyes take a crimson hue. He straightened and shot a quick glance at the documents. He seemed to be considering something... "Harry", he caught the boys attention once more. "Would you like to accompany me to the interrogatory?", Tom asked. The smile on his face surely couldn't mean anything good.

* * *


	13. The Warlock

_My, my, it's been a while... As some sort of compensation here's a little longer chapter (about 1,5 times longer). My university's classes begin in 2 weeks, so I guess I'll start writing again as soon as I realise I've got losts of studying to do (come on, who doesn't do that?). _

_Anyways, enjoy!_

* * *

_**13. The Warlock's Hairy Heart**_

_**

* * *

**_

Tom Riddle had never needed anyone. At least not like other people had. They needed someone to come home to, someone to talk to, someone to confide in. He thought them foolish, seeing as they kept losing all of their dignity the very same second they fell in love. He was the most influential, the most handsome and the most talented warlock in England. He could not afford such imprudent emotions like _compassion,_ _mercy _or _love_. No, he was above such foolish feelings.

Being the great warlock he was, it didn't take him long to find a way to guard himself from those redundant sentiments. He employed the Dark Arts to ensure his immunity. He hid his heart deep in the depths of his castle's dungeons. Since that day forth he had never dithered, hesitated or regretted his decisions. Each single day he affirmed his absolute power and dominance.

Heretofore he had never considered the need to ensure the continuance of his line, yet one feral day his most loyal minion suggested that it would be indeed quite a waste should all of his wealth be squandered after his death. He agreed and the search for the most fitting lady began.

Countless numbers of fine maidens came and went, yet none was up to the warlock's expectations. Some were too stout, others too weak; some were too cheerful, others too mournful. He flatly dismissed one damoiselle after another. After many, many days of searching, there was no maiden left in the entire kingdom.

The wrath of the warlock was beyond all description. He roared and growled, shouted and cursed, many a one servant experiencing his anger on their own skin. One day the warlock's wrath reached its peak and he cast a Crucio curse on the nearest minion. The servant fell to the ground, yet no screams or pleas escaped his mouth. Intrigued, the wizard came to the man and took his hood off with his foot. He saw a pair of emerald eyes smouldering with loathing piercing him through bangs as black as night. He decided.

"A man... but he will do. Bring him to my chambers at twilight", he ordered and headed away. If the boy succeeded to satisfy his needs, he would be his betrothed.

"I shall never agree to that!", spat the young man as he staggeringly gathered himself up. The warlock eyed him. "I shall never be with someone who owns no heart!"

The wizard smirked and took the younger mage's hand. He dragged him into the deepest pit of the castle's dungeons to the forgotten chamber that held his most precious treasure. He cast a spell and all torches became aflame illuminating the chamber. In the centre in an enchanted crystal casket was the warlock's beating heart.

Long since disconnected from eyes, ears and fingers, it had never fallen prey to beauty, or to a musical voice, to the feel of silken skin. The young wizard was terrified by the sight of it, for the heart was shrunken and covered in long black hair.

"Oh, no, my sir!", he exclaimed, tears shining in his emerald eyes. "Put it back where it belongs to, I beg of you!", he cried.

Seeing that it was necessary to gain the man's approval, the warlock cut his chest wide open and put the hairy organ into the empty spot between his bones. He opened his eyes and gasped at the sight in front of him. The young lad was smiling genuinely and tears of happiness were dropping from his shining eyes. The minion threw himself at the speechless warlock.

"Now you are healed and we shall never be apart!", the lad exclaimed and held close to his chosen one.

The touch of soft white arms, the sound of warm breath in his ear, the scent of the silken hair: all pierced the newly awakened heart like spears. But it had grown strange during its long exile, blind and savage in the darkness to which it had been condemned, and its appetites had grown powerful and perverse.

"Oh, so beautiful a heart, so pure, so innocent, offering itself to me without any claims", Riddle whispered and embraced the man. "Tell me your name."

"It's Harry", the boy whispered back, content of the affection his master was giving him.

"Harry...", the man enjoyed the sound of the name on his lips. Suddenly the man threw the boy at the floor and ripped his shirt off. He seized a silver dagger. "Thank you, for what you offered me, I shall gladly receive", he said and ripped the lad's chest open.

When the servants arrived at the chamber a most dreadful sight awaited them. Their master held in one bloody hand the dead boy's great, smooth, shining scarlet heart, which he licked and stroked, vowing to exchange it for his own. With the other hand he tried to pull his own ugly hairy heart from his chest. But the hairy heart was stronger than he was, and refused to relinquish its hold upon his senses or to return to the coffin in which it had been locked for so long. Before the horror-struck eyes of his guests, the warlock seized the bloodied silver dagger again. Vowing never to be mastered by his own heart, he hacked it from his chest.

For one moment, the warlock knelt triumphant, with a heart clutched in each hand; then he fell across the boy's body, and died.

* * *

"Tom! Tom!", a voice brought Tom from his nightmare and he gasped a mouthful of the night air. He gulped the air and clutched at his own chest as if confirming whether his heart was still in place and beating. "Tom, look at me!"

Still breathing heavily Riddle finally averted his eyes from his chest and looked into the eyes of his frightened husband. Harry was shaking with anxiety and his big emerald eyes were shining with tears in the moonlight. Suddenly Tom threw the boy on his back and ripped the pyjamas top. He restlessly put trembling hands on Harry's shoulders and pressed his ear to the boy's heart. The fast, steady rhythm seemed to calm him down an inch.

"T-Tom? Please, you're scaring me", the younger man whispered and the Dark Lord finally sighed. He pushed himself up on his arms and looked Harry in the eyes. "You were... tossing... a-and screaming... in your sleep", the boy admitted and broke the eye-contact. "You really scared me." Tom smiled slightly and lied onto the boy. He put his arms around the slim waist possessively.

"Shush, it shall never happen again", he murmured and strengthened his hold.

"T-Tom?"

"... never again", he repeated, more to himself than to the boy.

When the morning came, came the memories. Tom growled at himself and his abnormal and illogical behaviour last night. He realised he still held the boy in his arms and that eased his discomfort. He was content with the way the younger man fit nicely into his arms and how the warmth that radiated from him made him feel at ease. He wondered whether he would truly ever be able to rip apart Harry's chest, whether he would be able to kill the man he had grown so fond of. He knew of the prophecy, but that did not mean he believed in it. Once he tried to act according to it and it only led to his death. Tom caressed the boy's cheek with one finger. Would Harry be able to fight and kill _him _instead? No, surely the boy would never kill anyone. But on the other hand, the boy had every right to. The man snarled and pulled on one strand of black dishevelled hair.

"Nnh...", Harry reprimanded through his sleep and when the annoyance did not stop he cracked one eye open. "Umm, mornin'...", he murmured sleepily.

"Morning", Tom replied and smirked at the sight the boy presented. "Got your beauty sleep?"

"Oh, shut it", the boy growled and snuggled closer to the man, who, taken slightly aback, held him close.

"It's already breaking dawn; we ought to get up soon."

"... make the Sun go away."Riddle snickered slightly at the remark.

"I'm quite convinced that whether the Sun disappears or not, Severus will still require your presence in his classroom"

"... make _him_ go away", Harry commented and did not move one inch.

"Hmm, be careful what you are wishing for, Harry...", Tom whispered. "After all I was not called the Dark Lord for nothing..." The sentence suddenly got the boy up. He sat up and eyed his husband.

"You wouldn't."

"Care to find out?"

"No, I'd rather not", came the reply and soon after the boy was gone from the bed. Tom growled at the loss of warmth, but as he saw the shirtless wizard looking for his glasses, his spirits went high again.

"I'm sorry for the shirt, I will make sure to order you another one, if you'd like. This does not mean, however, that I do not enjoy the sight you present at the moment, mind you", he admitted and the bespectacled boy glared at him. Harry sighed and sat down on the bed. He looked kind of lost for words, yet determined to get some things off his mind.

"Uhm... last night... what?", he stuttered.

"Forget that", came the growling answer and the man stood up, gathered some clothes and left the room. The younger wizard grabbed his clothes as well and followed the man.

"You're not getting away from me that easily", Harry stated as he closed the bathroom door behind himself. He recoiled a bit when he saw that the man stood only in his undergarments. Nevertheless, the raven-haired kept his composure and held his chin up.

"Fine, you wish to know what I dreamt of, don't you?", the Dark Lord snarled annoyed and threw his shirt on the ground. Soon his garments became forgotten, as he neared the boy. He nailed the boy to the door and rested his arms on each side of his head. "You desire to know the devious and hectic insanities that infest my disturbed mind?", his voice was becoming lower and lower. "As you wish", he sneered. By now his tone was but a whisper. "Tonight I dreamt of ripping the _heart_ out of _your_ chest. But what a _marvellous_ sight it was!", he paused and laughed creepily. "All bloody and silken... so _soft_, so _scarlet_... And when you lied limp and lifeless in my arms, all bloodied and white, your emerald eyes contrasting so _beautifully_ with the ruby droplets on your pale cheeks..." Tom stopped his speech as one finger rested on his lips.

"Is that... what you truly want from me?", Harry asked, his voice somehow strong. He looked straight into the eyes of the Dark Lord and Riddle was surprised to find pure determination and bravery there. "Do you want to watch me die, to kill me with your own hands and enjoy your victory?", the boy inquired insistently. "Do you take pleasure in my pain and hurt? Do you... loathe me that much?"

Tom looked at the boy... no, at the young man. Even though he spoke of such sickening and gruesome things he did not waver, only the determination was replaced by sadness.

"No", the man replied in sad earnest. He let out a breath he had been holding in and let one hand slide down and rest on Harry's ruffled hair. "No, I do not loathe you, not anymore", he emphasised. "It was just a dream, a mere nightmare. It won't happen again, I told you already", he reassured the other wizard and let go. He walked away, picked his garments and glanced back. "Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you left the room for now. Unless you care to take a bath together?"

"I, I...", Harry stuttered and sighed. "Thanks, I think I'll pass. But...", he came up to the man and pulled him down by his neck. "If you ever have something like that on your mind, I'd rather hear it from you than have you keeping all those... disturbing thoughts to yourself", he said as he rested their foreheads together.

"...if you wish so."

"Good."

"...Harry?"

"..."

"Harry?"

"..."

"Oh well, I guess this means one thing", he said more briskly and smirked. Harry shrieked as he felt his pyjamas fly to the corner of the room and was thrown naked into the warm water. Tom stripped out of his undergarments and soon followed his spouse.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?", Potter gasped as soon as he could get his head above the water. He scooped into the corner of the bath and tried his best to cover himself with his own arms. Tom looked contently at him, his trademark smirk present on his face.

"I told you to leave unless you wanted to join me. And since you did not leave, I came to the conclusion that you, indeed, did want to take part in this and, may I add, I'm most favourably surprised."

"You...! You...!", Harry exclaimed as he could not find the fitting words. "You _prick_!" He splashed a generous amount of water at Tom and hurriedly jumped out of the bath to the nearest towel. That did not, however, deprive the man of the sight Harry presented naked with his uncovered buttocks. The scene made the man laugh and snicker as he saw the boy blush and shake with embarrassment and anger. "If I'm late for Snape's classes, which I surely am, it's _your_ fault! _Again_!"Harry left the bathroom, not bothering to pick up his clothes having decided to take some new and not soaked ones from his drawers.

"Ah, and here I was hoping for some more entertainment", Tom complained affably and relaxed in the warm water.

* * *

Harry somehow managed it in time for Potions classes and sat irritated next to Hermione, who had asked him about his last night and whether he had or not had enjoyed it.

"I did _not_ enjoy it", he retorted. "And as far as I'm concerned, you should worry about yourself. Have you figured out how to break to Victor that you no longer seek his company?", he asked evilly.

"That surely is none of your concern, _dear_ Harry", she replied. Soon they had to be quiet as Snape shot them one of his nastiest looks. After Potions they had a free period and as Ron disappeared somewhere with a certain Slytherin, Harry dragged Hermione to the library.

"I've got a question", he admitted when they were finally seated on the ground in one of the deserted far ends of the room.

"Well, ask away."

"It's... a weird one."

"Like _most_ of your questions. Go on. Ah, but, remember; Ron's the specialist in the man-love department, not me..."

"Shut it! It's not about m-man-love or anything like that... it's just, well, weird." She eyed him and rested her elbows on her knees and her back on the bookcase.

"I'm listening."

"Well...", he started. He had no idea how to ask the peculiar question and as he stumbled for words he figured out there was no other way, but to ask it directly. "Why would one want to rip the other's heart out of their chest if not for loathing them?", he asked in one breath. As he opened his eyes he saw Hermione go pale.

"Oh, no... did Tom try to...?"

"No, of course he did not!", he retorted, yet he felt a pang of anxiety in his heart at the mention of such a possibility. "It's just hypothetical."

"Um, okay, if you say so..." She did not seem convinced; nevertheless she shrugged it off for now. "Well, I remember having read a story once that included something like that... but it was just a fairytale for children...", the girl wondered as she stood up and went to a bookcase on the other end of the alley. After a while she came back with a small thin blue book. "It's something I found in our first year. As it was my first year dealing with magic I got really captivated by it. It's a collection of fairytales for magical children, but some scenes are quite... drastic and obscene, if you'd ask me. Anyway, here", she opened the book more or less in the middle. "The warlock one. It's about this mage that takes his heart out and something and then kills his fiancée... you'll just have to read it." She gave Harry the book and smiled slightly. "But I sure do hope it was honestly hypothetical."

"Yeah, naturally", he replied as he read the first lines of the story.

* * *

Their last classes that day were double DADA. Harry, after having read the story he had been given by Hermione, seemed restless and on edge, but the girl did not want to upset him further by inquiring. Anyway, her worries were soon forgotten, for when they entered the classroom most of them were left speechless.

"Rrefrain from gaping, it's unbecoming to do so", Tom reprimanded them and some of the bravest students started taking their places.

The reason for the commotion was a row of dark clad men standing between the students and the blackboard. None of them had a mask or a hood on; therefore their faces were visible to everyone that dared to look at them. To Draco's and Ron's true horror, Malfoy Senior was among those men.

"As you might have noticed", Tom continued, "those are my followers, known to most of you as the Death Eaters." A gasp escaped those, who had beforehand not realised the men's identity. "I ordered their presence at today's classes, for their assistance will be essential. Undoubtedly not many of you, if any at all, have heard of Legilimency and Occlumency. Yes, Miss Granger, I'm aware of the fact that you have, indeed, heard of it", he was about to explain the definitions, yet he changed his mind. "Very well, Miss Granger, share your wisdom with other students. Perhaps they will profit from it somehow, as some surely are in need of it." The girl's eyes shone and she took a deep breath in. Harry knew this was going to be a long monologue.

"Legilimency as a word has its origins in Latin. 'Legens' means 'a reader', while 'mens' means 'mind'. Put together it means 'mind-reading', however this expression is considered a naive interpretation of the art by its practitioners. More precisely Legilimency is the ability to extract emotions and memories from another person's mind. Occlumency is kind of a preventive method to Legilimency. 'Occulto' means 'to hide, conceal or cover' in Latin, therefore it could be translated as 'concealing the mind'. It is the art of magically defending the mind against external penetration, sealing it against magical intrusion and influence – the defensive counter to Legilimency."

"Well said, Miss Granger", Tom said and then continued, "Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, because Legilimency is highly restricted by the Ministry, you shall not learn it until the 7th year and only the very few of you will be granted this honour. As for today's lessons, we shall concentrate on Occlumency. Those who do not wish to have their minds penetrated or do not feel they are able to withstand it, may leave now." No one rose from their seats. The Dark Lord eyed every single student and continued in an ordering voice: "Aberffraw, Boot, Hopkins, Longbottom, Malfoy, Nott, Turpin and Weasley leave the classroom."

This caused quite a commotion among the students, as the mentioned ones started gathering their things slowly and nervously. Only Draco stayed in his place, but when he saw the look the Dark Lord gave him, he also joined the group and left the room. Only a group of no more than 10 students was left.

"Now that we have made it thought the first selection, let's move on", Tom commented. "Occlumency is a necessary prerequisite to defeat a Legilimens' lie-detector abilities without suspicious behaviour such as avoiding face-to-face contact and eye contact. Elementary Occlumency involves clearing the mind of thought and emotion, so that the Legilimens can find no emotional ties to memories that the target wishes to conceal. Simple resistance to attack requires similar skills to those needed to resist the Imperius Curse" he paused here and glanced at Harry. "In its more advanced form, Occlumency allows the user to suppress only feelings and memories that contradict what the user wishes a Legilimens to believe, thus allowing the Occlumens to lie without self-betrayal."

At the end of his speech Riddle looked meaningfully at Severus Snape, who was standing at the end of the row. The man seemed not to notice.

"Now, sit in pairs and each pair will be assigned one of my men", he announced. When the students seated themselves properly he ordered one of his men to the each group and commanded the others to leave the classroom, for they were no longer needed. Finally he stood in front of Harry's and Hermione's desk. "To try and defend your mind you will have to clear all your thoughts or, if you cannot accomplish that yet, concentrate on the memories you wouldn't mind others to see. My men will try to get to your deepest secrets, so beware. First off one person and then, as the first one is recovering from the mental assault, the second one. Do _not_ hurry, Occlumency is an art, where one has to take things slowly, unless he or she wants some permanent psychological damage. Now, start." Tom eyed one girl that was left without a partner and was soon to be pray of Lucius Malfoy, as he was the one assigned to her. He turned his eyes on Hermione. "Miss Granger, keep Miss Patil company, I'm quite sure she'll appreciate it." The girl nodded as she gathered her things and left the desk. First '_Legilimens'!'_ were heard.

"I don't think I'm any good at it", Harry caught Tom's attention.

"Why is that?"

The younger wizard looked troubled and finally he mumbled his answer.

"Well... last year, when Dumbledore realised there was some kind of _connection_ between my mind and yours, he ordered Snape to teach me Occlumency", he admitted. Tom eyed him and shot an irritated glare at the Potions Master. Harry assumed Snape had somehow concealed the fact from him. "A-anyhow, I really sucked at it, couldn't even keep him from getting to the most private memories…"

"Oh?", Tom looked more interested now.

"Nothing of _that_ manner, mind you", Harry's face flushed. "…mostly my childhood, which, by the way, I'd rather you didn't see. But, what Dumbledore said about the connection, is it true?"

The man traced one long finger along his lips and slowly replied.

"Yes, it somewhat is. There seems to be a connection between us that formed the moment I tried to kill you for the very first time. Hence your nightmares or, rather, visions and flashes from my mind and vice versa. After Nagini's unsuccessful attack on Mr. Weasley and Dumbledore's quick reaction I realised it must have been due to you seeing it. That is when I concentrated on Occlumency again myself. Choosing the exact memories I wanted you to see, sometimes sending false images and blocking every thought I decided was better out of your sight. Now, for example, you did not witness my dream tonight, did you?" Harry shook his head. "You, on the other hand, seem to keep your mind open like a book", he ended and smirked at the boy.

"Well, excuse me! I did stand the Imperio Curse you cast on me two years ago!", he fussed.

"It might be alike, but still, it is not the same", Tom explained. "Anyway, prepare yourself and clear your mind. Also note that you are dealing with the most powerful Legilimens alive", he smirked and without further ado looked the boy in the eyes.

'_What? No incantation...?",_ was Harry's last thought before random images from his whole life started flashing before his eyes and emotions flooded through him at incredible speed. Suddenly he was six years old and uncle Vernon was throwing him into the cupboard under the stairs, on which Dudley was happily jumping, causing all the spiders and dust to fall on the poor boy... Then he was few years older and clumsily doing the dishes in his aunt's kitchen, as Dudley opened his 20th Christmas present that day... Next there were his cousin's friends chasing after him in the alleys near Privet Drive... Then he was younger again, perhaps three years old, and was for the first time in a muggle hospital, when Dudley broke his leg for fun...

"Please, stop!", he exclaimed as he felt two arms catch him before he fell to the ground. He breathed heavily and moaned. "I told you it was a bad idea."

"Shush", Tom tried to calm the younger man, but his own anger was building inside him. "Is that what your whole childhood looked like?"

"Nah, only the pleasant parts", Harry smiled sarcastically and sat in his own chair. His spouse looked at him thin-lipped, but said nothing and stood up. As he walked through the classroom he observed how the other students were doing. When he saw most of the students either faint and pale or red with embarrassment he wondered whether it was too soon to teach them such arts. Then he saw Severus with Gwynedd and had to restrain himself from smirking.

"I had a feeling Occlumency was not unfamiliar for you, Miss Gwynedd", he stated as he neared them. The girl glanced at him and a delicate shade of pink tinted her cheeks.

"Of course, sir", she explained enigmatically and continued her practice with a very irritated Potions Master.

Just seconds before Tom moved on to the next pair he caught Gwynedd blushing rather profusely and Severus' eyebrows shooting high in astonishment. Grinning slightly he checked on Malfoy and the Gryffindor girls and upon seeing pure defeat written all over Granger's face he wondered whether simply kidnapping one of the Golden Trio wouldn't had been enough to make him win the war against the Light Side instead of giving most of his power up.

As there were no more students to check upon, Tom sighed and moved on to his spouse. His good spirits somehow flew away as he reluctantly took a seat next t the other man.

"You will never have to go back there, never again", he said offhandedly, yet his eyes had a look to them that made it hard to believe he was not much concerned about this matter. Harry noticed it and it drew a faint smile to his lips.

"Thank you", he expressed his gratitude. As the silence progressed, disturbed only by spells and spell-induced cries, he desperately tried to find something, anything other to talk with Tom about, but his mind seemed to be constantly drawn to their past. This in turn reminded him again, who the person in front of him was. It was really hard to see similarities between Tom and the man he had been for Merlin knows how long. True, he still had the same red glint in his eyes and bore the same name, but the resemblance ended there.

"Care to give it another try?", Harry broke the silence. Seeing as Tom was about to say something doubtful, he continued. "I promise to give it my best this time." The assurance seemed to be genuine and unwavering determination shone in his eyes, therefore the professor nodded slowly.

"Ready yourself", Tom demanded. The reluctance to continue came from the fact that he, even though he wouldn't admit it to himself, felt something tug at his conscience. _He _was the reason Harry grew up in a cupboard. _He _was to blame for countless physical and psychological scars the boy bore. _He_ was _at fault_ and maybe for the first time in his not-so-short life the Dark Lord regretted his past actions. For the first time he _felt guilt_. Needless to say, he did _not_ enjoy the feeling.

Having had enough of such foolish sentiments, he met his spouse's eyes and leaped into the past's maze.

Surprisingly he only caught a glimpse of his own face, when, albeit reluctant to linger in Harry's mind, he was thrown out by such force that he barely had time to set his own barriers before another presence broke into _his_ mind.

* * *

Harry found himself standing in front of a high wall made of gray bricks. There was nothing else around except for white light and thick vague mist. No wind, no sound, nothing palpable. Out of curiosity he reached one hand out. As the first finger grazed the surface of the brick it changed from gray to red and the surroundings swirled rapidly. The red brick remained floating in front of him and out of the corner of his eye he saw something move. It didn't take long for him to make out the sun shining through light-green curtains that waved slowly by the morning breeze and warm-brown walls that surrounded him now.

"Our... bedroom?"

This thought made him look at the spot where the bed was supposed to be. As on his clue, a queen sized bed with dishevelled black sheets materialized out of nowhere. To his surprise, he saw himself asleep contently in Tom's arms. The man was studying his face and running a hand carefully through the boy's more than usually messy hair. A gentle smile tugged at his lips, making the Dark Lord look more human than he had ever thought possible.

As Harry took a step forwards to see if the image was truly real, the scene disappeared. Lost again in the white nothingness, the red brick turned to white and dissolved in air leaving a gaping hole in the grey wall. By it he could see oozing darkness on the other side. He tried to reach one hand through the hole, but his other hand rested on a brick below for support. The other brick changed colour, as the previous one, and the surroundings changed yet again. This time the room was miniscule. There was a big, old and shabby closet by also old looking door. On the other side, under the window, stood two beds – one completely empty, the other occupied by a young, perhaps ten years old boy. It was hard to see the boy's face, as he stared outside the window. The image hazed a bit and Harry heard a knock on the door. A blurred person opened the door and said something unintelligible. Soon the person was replaced by... a very young Dumbledore, with great less wrinkles, brown hair and shorter beard. The image bleared again, but Harry could make out one sentence from Dumbledore:

"You're special", whispered in a soothing voice.

Potter turned his eyes to the young boy, having a strong sense of déjà-vu. On the bed sat, not unlike himself, a boy who had been just told he was a wizard. The boy's face remained cold and expression-less, yet the stormy gray eyes lit at the idea of being... better, exceptional, superior. Harry realised to whom those eyes belonged and a gasp escaped his mouth.

The scene faded out and he was yet again left facing the brick wall, with two empty spots in it. Unsure, he placed his hand once more on a gray brick, promising himself it was the last one. All of a sudden he felt a great blast of wind push him backwards. He caught the nearest thing in front of him and clung for dear life. The wind was too strong and he could feel it tear at his clothing. Yet, somehow, it gave him a feeling of complete freedom.

He opened one eye, careful not to get startled by the wafts of air. To say he was astonished would be an understatement. He was _flying_ on a _broomstick_ in the middle of the _Quidditch Pitch_ and he was holding desperately onto a young man, maybe a year older than him, who wore Slytherin's playing robes. This time too it was hard to see the face, but the dark wavy hair and familiar warmth made it all too obvious. Yet he had to make sure, he had to _see_. Mesmerized by the moment, he tugged at the man's arms. It seemed the man was made of stone, as Harry was unable to move him in any way; nevertheless he managed to pull himself up. What he saw made him loose his breath.

Indeed, it was Tom, a teenage Tom, older than the one from the diary. He had his eyes half-closed, a genuine smile on his lips. It reminded Harry of the first time he flew on a broomstick. He realised they weren't alone in the Pitch. There were other players, both Slytherin and Gryffindor, the last ones seemingly defeated. The crowd on the spectating seats cheered and Harry could make out the name _"Tom!"_ in the cheering. It must have been the last match that year and clearly thanks to Tom, they won.

The last memory faded out. The gap in the wall was big enough to freely look through it at the other side. He shook the bad feeling off and tried to reach through the hole. He could hear dimmed voices, which turned louder and louder as his hand reached deeper.

"...a freak!"

"You? You're not my son...!"

"...please, don't!"

"A monster!"

"...you'll never..."

"...please no, ...kill me...! Not Ha...!"

"No!"

"...disappointed me..."

"_That's enough!"_, a yell tore him backwards and before he had the chance to even blink, he was back in the classroom, both he and Tom panting heavily. Abruptly the Dark Lord stood up and seethed through clenched teeth: "Out! All of you!"

All sound ceased and no one dared to move, despite the command. This only angered the man further.

"OUT!", he nearly roared and magic started coming off of him in bursts in time with his raging heartbeat. This seemed to finally wake the students and Dark Eathers alike from their stupor and they wasted no time in removing themselves from the classroom. Both Snape and Malfoy cast Tom somewhat concerned glances on their way out and, as they were the last to leave, closed the door soundlessly. Without looking back at the boy, he said: "What did you see behind the wall?", his voice barely over a whisper.

"I've… seen nothing."

"Don't _lie_!"

Tom turned around, strode towards the boy and pinned him to the chair by grasping the wooden backrest so hard his knuckles turned white. However, Harry held his glare and replied calmly.

"I am _not lying_. I've seen not a single thing behind that damned wall!"

"_Honestly_?" Tom's voice was sarcastic and incredulous. "You broke into the Dark Lord's mind and you just took a leisurely strode through it without casting even one single glance at past memories? _Bloody bollocks_!" He squinted his eyes and noticed Harry put a hand to his forehead as if the scar hurt him as it used to whenever Voldemort lost his composure. _Good, _the man thought, _serves him right._ He lowered his face so that their noses nearly touched and went on. "Now that I've seen your childhood, did you yearn to see my own sufferings so much that you couldn't resist and succumbed to such frivolous temptations and _plunged_ _into_ _my own mind_? Did you wish to see how they abused me at the orphanage? Or maybe you wanted to see how they looked at me as if I were a _monster, _a _freak_? How through my entire life I couldn't find one single soul that could be my equal? How I had to make it through an entire lifetime with nothing but pitiful servants kept at my side by pure dread? Is this what you wished to see?"

To his annoyance, the boy only sighed and tried to pull him into an awkward hug by placing both arms around Tom's neck. The Dark Lord shoved them off and took a step back.

"Don't play those female tricks on me, boy. We're both men; face me when I demand this of you!"

"…fine", the raven-haired said and slowly stood up. "Although it was _not_ a female trick, for indeed as you have just mentioned we're both male. I merely wanted to comfort you in some way, but if you're too blinded with anger, then so be it. Either way, I saw nothing behind the wall. I hardly realised where I was! If you have to know, I just saw what you probably kept as good memories, since the barrier consisted of them. Nevertheless, if you hadn't torn me out of there in time, I might have seen something. And for that – I'm sorry", he ended silently. His eyes cast downwards a few times under the man's heavy glare, yet each single time they came back upwards and spoke only _truth_. The glare remained on Tom's face for countless minutes, at least that's what if felt like to the younger man. Finally Tom sighed and turned around.

"The class is over. I'm sure there will be new gossips all around the castle before dinner if we don't leave soon."

That made Harry smile and, without any notice, he walked up to the man and hugged him tightly from behind. His spouse, taken slightly aback allowed the affection this time.

"Aren't you going to accuse me of feminine hoaxes again?", the bespectacled boy whispered into the layers of clothing, a wide grin present on his face.

"I guess I'll pass this time", the man said, a small smile making its way onto his lips.

"That's good… But Tom?"

"Yes?"

"You don't have a hairy heart, remember that."

Tom remembered the scene from his dream and stiffened. Sensing that, Harry held him closer. At long last he loosened up and was about to place his hands over Harry's, but the boy let him go before he had a chance and started walking towards the door.

"Now," Harry paused both his speech and walk and cast a half-mischievous half-shy look at his husband. "I think I've know of a way to improve your mood."

* * *

_So, what do you think? Enough of drama and shouting for one chapter? ;P _

_I have to add - this chapter is based, if you haven't noticed yet, on J.'s story "The Warlock". She mentions the story in one of HP books and she also **wrote** the entire book containing those stories. I strongly recommend them. Even if they're full of blood and gore. ;P  
_

_**Preview: **After some fanservice Harry accompanies Tom to the interrogatory. Will their relationship survive through yet another fight? And why is Harry so willing all of a sudden? Find out soon!_


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